KIMBERLY WAGNER
PREACHING AND TRAUMA
"Trauma threatens to throw into question all that we have known to be true and the ways we have normally navigated the world. Perhaps preachers will find that the familiar tropes, the go-to theological adages, and the well-worn patterns of preaching that have served well thus far no longer hold up or seem to meet the moment..."
ABOUT
Kimberly Wagner
The Rev. Dr. Kimberly Wagner serves as the Assistant Professor of Preaching at Princeton
Theological Seminary. She received a B.S. in Secondary Life Science Education from Miami
University (OH), a M.Div. from the Candler School of Theology at Emory University, and her
Ph.D. from the Graduate Division of Religion at Emory University. Though she has served among
the Lutherans and was educated among United Methodists, Dr. Wagner is ordained as a
Minister of Word and Sacrament in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). Previous experience on
the pastoral staff of a PCUSA congregation in Virginia helps fuel and inform her present
scholarship and teaching. She is passionate about supporting students’ formation and helping
clergy and communities navigate the realities of an ever-changing world and church. Her
current writing and work focus on preaching and ministry in the midst and wake of trauma,
particularly thinking about collective trauma, the role of the preacher, and the resources of our
Scriptures and faith to respond to these moments. Dr. Wagner’s book, Fractured Ground:
Preaching in the Wake of Mass Trauma (Westminster John Knox Press, 2023), offers guidance
for preaching in the aftermath of communal trauma, including mass violence, natural disasters,
and public health crises.
CONTACT
Kimberly Wagner
Assistant Professor of Preaching
Princeton Theological Seminary