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Ph.D. - Union Theological Seminary
M.Phil. - Union Theological Seminary,
Graduate Certificate in Psychoanalysis, BPGI,NY
Graduate Certificate in Pastoral Psychotherapy, BPGI, NY
Certified ANZACPE Full Supervisor
S.T.M. - Union Theological Seminary
Certificate in Theory of Psychotherapy, Ashburn Hall, NZ
Accredited (Board Certified) NZHCA Hospital Chaplain
B.Theol. - University of Otago
The Rev. Dr. Storm Swain has served United Lutheran Seminary, since its birth in 2017, and the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia from 2009-2017. Dr. Swain’s teaching on the Philadelphia and Gettysburg campuses is resourced by her experience as a psychiatric chaplain, pastoral psychotherapist, disaster spiritual care chaplain, and as Canon Pastor of the Congregation of St. Saviour at the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine (2002-07).
Originally ordained in the Anglican Church of Aotearoa, New Zealand, and Polynesia in her late 20’s, Dr. Swain is most known there for her original work on the CAIRA model of pastoral formation (CAIRA-NZ) and she has written on the New Zealand Prayer Book = He Karakia Mihinare o Aotearoa as a model for Post-colonial liturgy. An Episocal priest, Dr. Swain oversees the Anglican Studies program at ULS, and is proud to follow the inaugural Anglican Studies professor, the Rt. Rev. Dr. Frederick Houk Borsch.
Dr. Swain is a leader in the field of Disaster Spiritual Care and has been an invited lecturer in Australia, Denmark, New Zealand, and the United States, being most known for her book Trauma and Transformation at Ground Zero: A Pastoral Theology, (Fortress Press, 2011). In 2019, she was the keynote speaker for the Uniting (Church) conference, Pastoral Strength: Spirituality in Untrusting Waters, which was ‘anchored’ by Irish peacebuilder and poet, Padraig O’ Tuama. Dr. Swain served as a chaplain in the American Red Cross’ 9/11 Disaster response in 2001, and on the Leadership team of New York Disaster Interfaith Services (NYDIS), until 2009. Dr. Swain was a moderator in the 2019 New York Disaster Faith Services Summit on Disaster Preparedness for Religious Leaders, and coauthored the Thrive NYC Mental Health Toolkit for Faith and Community Leaders, during the COVID 19 Pandemic.
During the COVID pandemic, she was an invited speaker on virtual town halls and webinars on pandemic grief and trauma for the Chaplaincy Innovation Lab, Odyssey Network, Macedonian Ministry, the Institute for Collective Trauma and Growth, Priest Pulse, Thrive NYC, Interfaith Center of New York, and NYDIS, also producing a resource on ‘Embodied Coping in a time of COVID-19 Crisis.’ Her most recent academic work focuses on Climate Crisis denial. She is currently working on a book of case studies in disaster spiritual care, tentatively titled ‘Resurrecting Resilience.’ Dr. Swain is an active member of the ‘Psychology, Culture, and Religion’ section of the American Academy of Religion, and the Society for Pastoral Theology.
Dr. Swain shares her life with her spouse, the Rev. Stephen Harding, an Episcopal rector, and emeritus chaplain of the FDNY, a teenager, and a labradoodle.
Book: Trauma and Transformation at Ground Zero: A Pastoral Theology, Fortress, Minneapolis, 2011.
Mental Health Toolkit for Faith and Community Leaders, Thrive NYC, New York, 2020.
Mailing address:
7301 Germantown Avenue
Philadelphia, PA 19119
