Dave Olson and Pam Engelbert, “The Dual Presence of God: A Dialogue on Suffering and Healing.” Produced by Dave Olson. The Ask the Theologian Podcast. December 15, 2025. Podcast, MP3 audio, 35:10.
Click to Listen to: The Dual Presence of God
Engelbert, Pamela F. “See My Body, See Me—A Pentecostal perspective on healing after harm.” Testimony and Enrich Vol. 106, no. 3 (Summer 2025).
ABOUT: I offer hope for victims of sexual abuse and violence in this article published in a magazine by the Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada (PAOC). I highlight how the use of Scripture, theology, psychology, and culture provides a Pentecostal perspective while on a path to healing.
Engelbert, Pamela F. See My Body, See Me: A Pentecostal Perspective on Healing from Sexual Violence. Eugene, OR: Pickwick Publications, 2024.
Available at: Wipf & Stock and Amazon
CLICK to Check Out an Interview with the Author
ABOUT: Hashtags such as #MeToo, #ChurchToo, and #pentecostalsisterstoo have exposed in recent years a type of epidemic of sexual violence in Western culture and the church. In light of these revelations, many have admitted (including clergy) to their lack of training to provide support for survivors of sexual violence. See My Body, See Me is a pentecostal response to these concerns by highlighting the characteristics of the healing journey from sexual violence and by underscoring specific acts of ministry for the church. As a qualitative work, See My Body, See Me draws from the experiences of eight pentecostal survivors and five licensed pentecostal counselors and combines them with Scripture (1 Corinthians), theology, culture, and psychology. This practical theological volume is divided into two parts with the first section describing four qualities of the healing journey of pentecostal survivors and the second offering three, historically pentecostal, healing praxes. It may be classified as being genuinely pentecostal in that it contains throughout the threads of story, body, and healing. See My Body, See Me is an invitation for pentecostals to participate in Christ’s healing ministry to see, hear, and believe survivors as God sees, hears, and believes them.
Praise For See My Body, See Me
“In the wake of ongoing church abuse scandal and the reality of sexual trauma in our society, Pamela Engelbert provides a comprehensive pastoral resource for church leaders. Academically researched, biblically grounded, and thoroughly Pentecostal, See My Body, See Me is at once sober, practical, and hopeful. It’s both a vindication of local church efforts to address trauma in community and a call to wield Pentecostal practices to facilitate and deepen the work of healing.”
—Joseph Lear, pastor of preaching and theology, Resurrection Assembly of God
(see also Pastoral Theology with Joseph Lear to see what else he has to say about it)
“This is a must-read for Pentecostals! Sexual violence has too long been swept under the rug in our tradition. Pamela Engelbert’s book does not shy away from the trauma experienced by women but offers a path forward toward healing. This is a book for survivors and their families, for counselors, and for pastors who wish to participate in Christ’s healing ministry.”
—Melissa L. Archer, professor of biblical studies, Southeastern University
“This book is a powerful call to attune to the lived experiences of Pentecostal survivors of sexual violence and to become those who can enter their unique journeys and companion them effectively through specific healing praxes. Pamela Engelbert skillfully weaves together theological, biblical, and psychological insights with the stories of survivor and counselor-participants. The result is a transformative and must-read resource for Pentecostal believers and their communities and for those providing care to them.”
—Haley R. French, LPC, assistant professor of professional counseling, Oral Roberts University
“As we continue to discern how to navigate the reality of sexual violence in the church, Pamela Engelbert has written a masterful work that combines practical help for survivors of sexual violence and also a framework for those who lead in religious spaces to work to prevent sexual violence and to walk with survivors. I believe that Engelbert’s work will bring healing to all who are impacted by the implications of sexual violence in our churches.”
—Joy E. A. Qualls, associate dean, Biola University
“Pamela Engelbert’s book is a gem, bringing acute scholarship woven with her personal story and a cogent call for intentional awareness, grace, and healing. This book will be a welcome and needed resource for all those who have suffered such assault and for those in professional mental health and ministry roles—one that takes seriously her Christian and Pentecostal heritage. Get your copy of this book as soon as it is available!”
—George D. Fessler, director of pastoral care, SoCal Network Assemblies of God
Engelbert, Pamela F. (2021) “How Jesus Communicates #Metoo: A Perspective on Intergenerational Trauma and Healing in the Atonement,” Spiritus: ORU Journal of Theology: Vol. 6 : No. 2 , Article 6.
Available at: https://digitalshowcase.oru.edu/spiritus/vol6/iss2/6
ABOUT: This article offers a practical theological praxis of how the church may participate in Christ’s atoning ministry of healing towards persons who have experienced sexual violence. Drawing from the theory of intergenerational trauma, it uses the mentioning of “the wife of Uriah” in Matthew’s genealogy to convey how Jesus identifies with survivors of sexual violence. The article then focuses on the hypostatic union to establish how Jesus provides ontological healing in the atonement for said survivors. It concludes by demonstrating how Matthew’s Gospel calls radical disciples to a healing praxis of listening to stories of the disenfranchised, thereby pointing towards Christ’s atoning work of bearing and healing humanity’s weaknesses.
“A Linking Object’s Presence in Absence: A Praxis for Mourning from Luke-Acts.” In Receiving Scripture in the Pentecostal Tradition: A Reception History. Edited by Martin Mittelstadt, Daniel Isgrigg, and Rick Wadholm Jr., 148-176. Cleveland, TN: CPT Press, 2021.
Available at Amazon.
ABOUT “A LINKING OBJECT’S PRESENCE IN ABSENCE”: This article endeavors to contribute to the pentecostal response to mourners in which one is not only present to the mourner but also upholds a genuine pentecostal understanding of Spirit-Christology; I do so by drawing from the Lukan theme of presence-absence and connecting it with grief theory’s linking (or transitional) objects.
ABOUT THE ENTIRE BOOK: As a relatively new methodology, reception history continues to gain traction in biblical, theological, and philosophical studies. Receiving Scripture in the Pentecostal Tradition furthers the conversation with groundbreaking analysis of how the Pentecostal tradition read, interpreted, viewed, and performed Scripture. Included in this volume are twelve essays by global scholars who bring their methodological, biblical, and theological expertise to Pentecostal readings of Scripture. Each contributor documents not only how Pentecostals received the Scriptures, but also provide insights and analysis for these interpretations in their respective communities. This volume will serve as an excellent foundation for students and seasoned scholars interested in better understanding Pentecostal reception with all of its theological and hermeneutical implications. Daniel D. Isgrigg (PhD, Bangor University, UK) is Assistant Professor and Director of the Holy Spirit Research Center and Archives, Oral Roberts University, Tulsa, OK, USA. Martin W. Mittelstadt (PhD, Marquette University) is Professor of New Testament at Evangel University, Springfield, MO, USA. Rick Wadholm, Jr (PhD, Bangor University, UK) is an independent scholar based in Ellendale, ND, USA.
Who Is Present in Absence? A Pentecostal Theological Praxis of Suffering and Healing. Eugene: Pickwick, 2019.
Available at Amazon and Wipf & Stock
CLICK to Watch an Introductory Video of Who Is Present in Absence?
ABOUT: What transpires when Classical Pentecostals pray for God to intervene amidst their suffering, but God does not? Traditionally, Classical Pentecostals center on encountering God as demonstrated through the relating of testimonies of their experiences with God. In seeking to contribute to a theology of suffering for Pentecostals, Pam Engelbert lifts up the stories of eight Classical Pentecostals to discover how they experienced God and others amidst their extended suffering even when God did not intervene as they had prayed. By valuing each story, this qualitative practical theology work embraces a Pentecostal hermeneutic of experience combined with Scripture, specifically the Gospel of John. As a Pentecostal practical theological project it offers a praxis (theology of action) of suffering and healing during times when we experience the apparent absence of God. It invites the reader to enter into the space of the other’s suffering by way of empathy, thereby participating in God’s act of ministry to humanity through God’s expression of empathy in the very person of Jesus.
An interview about the book:
Click HERE to read an interview in PneumaReview.com about Who Is Present in Absence?
WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING:
- Adams, Scott. 2019. Pneuma. 41 (3-4): 535-537.
- Allen, Herman. 2019. PentecoStudies: An Interdisciplinary Journal for Research on the Pentecostal and Charismatic Movements. 18 (2): 227-228.
- Woodall, Judith. 2020. Journal of the European Pentecostal Theological Association. 40 (1): 73-74.
Excerpt:
Upon meeting Jeremy, I was struck by his strong belief that God is significantly directing and participating in the affairs of humanity. For Jeremy, this means that God was involved in his life prior to his becoming a Christ-follower as seen in his giving credit to God for his success at his job. He recalled others telling him: “We don’t know how you did that. We don’t know how you ever accomplished all that stuff.” He knows he worked hard, but he, too, is unsure how it happened, except through God’s help. After his becoming a Christ-follower, Jeremy admits God not only continued to help him professionally but also personally. He confessed that prior to his conversion he drank, smoked heavily, swore considerably, and had a horrible temper, and then, “I mean, well, my life has dramatically changed.” In short, Jeremy was a successful businessman with responsibilities that resulted in a six-figured salary, and who had witnessed the Spirit moving in his life, transforming and helping him. For Jeremy, God was protecting and would “protect” him. However, on a fall day a few years prior to the interview, Jeremy was involved in a car accident that changed his life. He does not recall the details of the accident or the month and a half immediately following it, but he has been told that his vehicle rolled three to four times, and the jaws of life were required to remove him from his truck. He had to be flown to a larger city in order to receive the proper medical care, during which time they had to resuscitate him twice. Some of the resulting damages included a broken jaw and a head injury, both of which continue to have their impact. After being discharged from the hospital but while he was still rehabilitating, Jeremy continued to make plans for his life. His physician had put him in touch with an individual who was to assist him on his journey of recovery. After having several good phone conversations, Jeremy informed the other person of his future plans, but the person discounted this possibility. Jeremy asserted that he served a loving God for whom nothing was impossible and curtailed the conversations. He now admits that underlying his assertion was an expectation. For Jeremy, God was like a “vending machine.” He expected that because he had invested in God, God would give him what he wanted. This may have appeared to be the case when Jeremy was cleared by his physician to return to work within a few months of being discharged from the hospital. His expectations, unfortunately, remained unmet. On his first day of work, he was able to find his office, but then he could not recall how to sign on to his computer. That same day he was informed that other employees would join him for a conference call to another city, but he was unable to remember how to go about implementing the call. He also realized he was now inept at developing spreadsheets with Microsoft’s Excel. As a result of his incompetence, he was let go from his job within a short period of time and placed on long term disability. Up to this point, Jeremy’s work had determined his purpose and identity, but now his sense of identity and worth were stripped away. Not only was his wife maintaining their financial records since the accident, but now he also was no longer the main wage earner in the home. Jeremy perceived, “I couldn’t be the man of the house. I couldn’t be the worker, the man that goes out and earns an income.” He viewed himself as no longer being “a man the way I define a man.” His crisis was not only limited to his own identity, but it also influenced his expectations about God. Jeremy described the impact: “And so, now I’m out of work, and I’m feeling like, ‘God, did you leave me? You’ve been with me through this whole process. Have you left me?’”
CHECK OUT THE AUTHOR’S PAGE ON AMAZON: