As the inaugural recipient of the Lamin Sanneh Research Prize, Dr. Davi Ribeiro Lin, assistant professor of pastoral theology and ministry, has been studying the intersection of theology and narratives with a grant from the Overseas Ministries Study Center. Dr. Ribeiro Lin’s interest in pastoral theology and ministry has been shaped by an interdisciplinary perspective; he is trained in practical theology, counseling psychology, and the pastoral perspective of Augustine of Hippo. Dr. Ribeiro Lin served for a decade as a pastor in Brazil, proving leadership through preaching, teaching, discipleship, and pastoral care and counseling.

Working with graduate students at Seminário Teológico Servo de Cristo in São Paulo, Brazil, Dr. Ribeiro Lin tasked participants to write God-centered biographies, or theographies, about their own life narratives in the style of Augustine’s Confessions. He observed that students “not only were able to lay ears to Augustine’s heart (Conf. 10.3.4), but their theographies increased the sense of being under God’s benevolent care and fostered vulnerability, gratitude and humility.”

Read the full article to learn more about Dr. Ribeiro Lin’s research and the myriad benefits he has found in writing about one’s personal narratives as theographies.