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Biography

My name is Christian Scharen. I was born in Beltsville, Maryland and moved with my family to Bozeman, Montana, where grew up (sort of, although that has continued!) I earned an B.A. in Religion and Philosophy at Pacific Lutheran University in 1989, then the M.A. in Religion (1995) at the Graduate Theological Union and the M.Div. (1996) at the GTU-affiliated Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary, and finally earned the Ph.D. in Religion (2001) at Emory University. An ordained pastor in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, I have served churches in the California, Georgia, and, most recently, Connecticut. I am married to Sonja Batalden, a Nurse-Midwife at in New Haven, and the father of Isaiah (10) and Grace (7). I am the author of Married in the Sight of God: Theology, Ethics, and Church Debates over Homosexuality (2001), Public Worship and Public Work: Culture and Commitment in Local Congregational Life (2004), One Step Closer: Why U2 Matters to Those Seeking God (2006), and Faith as a Way of Life: A Vision for Pastoral Leadership (2008) as well as various articles in scholarly and popular journals.

My passion is the integration of faith and everyday life, a topic chronicled on this blog. My scholarly work centers on the Christian church and its relation to culture. I lead a Lilly research project on pastoral excellence and teach at Yale Divinity School in the areas of faith and culture as well as practical theology and congregational studies.

Interests

Sonja--my beloved, Isaiah (10) and Grace (7), blind bartimaeus (mark 10:46), walking (on the beach, in the woods or anywhere), u2 (I wrote a book called 'one step closer', brazos press, 2006), Prairie Home Companion (a must from Lutherans in diaspora), old churches, silence, and dark beer On the latter, I've been drinking a rich local by the Brooklyn Brewery's Black Chocolate Stout. Description: "Luscious plum and date sweetness w/ roasted coffee and dark chocolate character and acidity. Sweet w/ prune type dry fruit and stone fruit notes. A rich malty taste that is punctuated by a piney hop acidity and spiced character." Clearly a superior winter beer. Hope you try it!