Brite Divinity School is excited to announce Rev. Dr. Michael Yandell as the new Director of the Soul Repair Center and Doctor of Ministry program. Yandell, a theologian whose work on moral injury is rooted in his experiences in the US Army in Iraq, received his Master of Divinity from Brite in 2015.
“We are excited to welcome Michael back to Brite,” said Brite President, the Rev. Dr. Stephen Cady. Yandell was a panelist at the Soul Repair Center’s launch event in 2012. Cady continued, “Michael has been actively involved with the Soul Repair Center since the beginning, so it's wonderful to have him back leading the Center.”
Launched in 2012 courtesy of generous funding from the Lilly Endowment, the Soul Repair Center at Brite Divinity School has offered public education and conducted research on moral injury and recovery for military veterans. During this time, it has educated religious and non-profit communities, employers, educators, religious leaders, chaplains, seminarians, and medical care-givers about the ways to support processes of healing for those who experience military moral injury and their families.
Inspired to join the military after the 9-11 attacks, Yandell spent four years as an Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) Specialist in the U.S. Army before returning home to attend college. He earned a Bachelor of Music from the University of Tennessee at Martin, a Master of Divinity from Brite Divinity School and a Doctor of Philosophy from Emory University. As a theologian and scholar, Yandell is passionate about bridging the gap between the academy and the church. His research interests include moral injury, war, pastoral care for veterans, peace and justice studies, theology, and ethics. He is the author of War and Negative Revelation: A Theoethical Reflection on Moral Injury (Lexington Books, 2022).
Yandell, who currently serves as Senior Minister of First Christian Church in Greensboro, NC, will begin on August 1. He and his spouse, Amy, will move to Fort Worth this summer with their dogs, Elsie and Snow.