This CaSTLE Project series, Becoming Lament Doulas, is a thoughtfully designed course that brings together biblical study, practical ritual, and contextual reflection to help participants engage lament as a vital spiritual practice. Led by Rev. Dr. Helen Chukka, Assistant Professor of Hebrew Bible at Wartburg Theological Seminary, and Rev. Dr. Jan Schnell, Associate Professor of Liturgics, the course weaves together theological insight and embodied practice.
"Becoming Lament Doulas" is a pre-recorded course on loss, grief, and hope in the Hebrew Bible. It explores the raw, and honest language of protest, sorrow, and loss found in the biblical laments. The course invites participants to engage in the sacred work of articulating grief and loss through the language of lament used by the ancient faith communities. By submitting personal, communal, and systemic losses to God, one gives voice to the fragility of human existence and acknowledges these losses before the sovereign God.
The course examines specific forms and expressions of lament, as well as biblical figures who serve as models of piety and prayer. It aims to present lament as a powerful and pious expression of faith in the Christian church.
Participants will be invited to give voice to their own pain, accompany others in their grief and loss, and grow into the role of "lament doulas."
This series is rooted in the Christian conviction that the Church is entrusted with the sacred role of midwifing healing and wholeness. As a community united with Christ in his death and resurrection through baptism, we are called to engage suffering with honesty and hope. In Baptism, we not only acknowledge our faith in the Triune God, but also become part of the Universal Church as members of the body of Christ. Therefore we are invited to bear one another's burdens and support one another in loss, grief, and hope.
Lament, echoed in Jesus's cry from the cross, "My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?" is not a cry of doubt, but a faithful expression of prayer and trust. It gives permission to the baptized to not turn away from suffering and its various expressions, but to name it, hold it, and lift it to God as an act of faith.
In "Becoming Lament Doulas," we embrace our baptismal vocation to live out our lives shaped by the cross, empowered by the Spirit and our reliance on the sovereign God who alone can bring healing and wholeness in a hurting world.
Introduction to the Course Available on the CaSTLE Platform beginning April 20th, 2026!