Hello, everyone, and welcome to Speaking with Joy, a podcast to fill your soul, challenge your mind, and make you brave.

I'm your host, Joy Clarkson, and an evangelist for all things good, true, and beautiful.

So make yourself a cup of tea, find somewhere comfortable, and let's dive in to this week's episode. God doesn't forget anybody. This week I talked

with Professor John Swinton, the chair in Divinity and Religious Studies at the University

of Aberdeen, and the founder of the University's Center for Spirituality, Health, and Disability.

Professor Swinton's research has significantly shaped the field of practical theology, particularly

with his work, Dementia, living in the memories of God, which was awarded the Michael

Ramsey Prize for theological writing. In this episode, we talk about the theology of memory,

God's memory, connecting that to the experience of those whom society often forgets,

people with dementia, profound intellectual disabilities, and crippling mental illness.

One of the ideas that Professor Swinton emphasizes is that practical theology takes into account

the needs of different sorts of people, not as some great act of charity, but simply as an act

of faithfulness to the call to make disciples of all people.

Professor Swinton is as knowledgeable and impressive as he is kind.

I found myself pondering our conversation long after it was over.

I was encouraged, enriched, and challenged by what Professor Swinton had to share,

and I hope you will be as well.

Dr. Swinton, I'm so excited to have you on this show today. Tell us a bit about, you have

you have done many things in your life. When we look at your biography, you have been a pastor,

you have been a professor, you have been, what is the narrative arc to those things?

What led you to write about and be passionate about what you are passionate about?

That's a good question. Well, my background originally was in nursing, so I trained as a mental health nurse and then I retrained as a nurse with

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