Professor John Swinton

Professor in Practical Theology adn Pastoral Care
University of Aberdeen

Aberdeen, United Kingdom

Biography

John Swinton is Professor in Practical Theology and Pastoral Care and Chair in Divinity and Religious Studies at the University of Aberdeen. For more than a decade John worked as a registered mental health nurse. He also worked for a number of years as a hospital and community mental health Chaplain alongside of people with severe mental health challenges who were moving from the hospital into the community. In 2004, he founded the University of Aberdeen’s Centre for Spirituality, Health and Disability. He has published widely within the area of mental health, dementia, disability theology, spirituality and healthcare, qualitative research and pastoral care. John is the author of a number of monographs including his latestbook: Finding Jesus in the Storm: The spiritual lives of people with mental health challenges. (Eerdmans 2020) In 2016 his book Dementia: Living in the memories of God won the Archbishop of Canterbury’s Ramsey Prize for excellence in theological writing .

Honoraria Titles

Fellow of the Royal society of Edinburgh (FRSE)

Major Prizes

The Michael Ramsey Prize for theological writing (2016)
The Oskar Pfister Award for an outstanding contribution to religion and psychiatry. (2017) Awarded by the American Psychiatric Association.
The Lanfranc Award for Education and Scholarship. (2020) This is awarded by the Archbishop pof Canterbury for an outstanding contribution to education and scholarship.

Religion, Philosophy & History Interests

Theology

Science & Technology Interests

Medicine & Health

Website

https://www.abdn.ac.uk/sdhp/profiles/j.swinton

Publications

Finding Jesus in the Storm: The Spiritual lives of Christians living with severe mental health challenges

Grand Rapids: Eerdmans 2020

Becoming Friends of Time: Disability, Timefullness and Gentle Discipleship

Waco: Baylor Press 2016

Dementia: Living in the Memories of God

Grand Rapids: Eerdmans

Raging With Compassion: Pastoral responses to the problem of evil.

Grand Rapids: Eerdmans 2007

Practical Theology and Qualitative Research (2nd edition)

London: SCM 2017

Spirituality in Mental Health Care: Rediscovering a “forgotten” dimension.

London: Jessica Kingsley 2001