Hospitable Witnessing

“Hospitable Witnessing is an unusual and necessary book which investigates the author’s experience of caring for her mentally ill friend. Readers will find themselves deeply engaged in the psychological pain and confusion of both the author and her friend. This honest and compassionate book will be of great value to families, church members, and professionals engaged in the care and treatment of mentally ill people.”


—Mary Fawcett, Former Lecturer, School of Policy Studies, University of Bristol, United Kingdom





“This tender and compelling work offers a challenging theological reflection upon mental illness. It fully acknowledges the pain and ambiguity that accompanies mental anguish but through the use of deeply reflexive and profoundly spiritual tools it helps to bring this suffering within the reach of prayerful contemplation and ethical response.”


—Heather Walton, Professor of Theology and Creative Practice, University of Glasgow





“Hospitable Witnessing is a delicate filigree of longing and loss held together with twisted threads of lived experiences. As a reader and relational psychotherapist, I am impacted by the gentle invitation of entering the enchanted world of another’s faith and the realm of possibilities which open up in the spaces between presence and absence of illness when exploring the nature of the divine.”


—Salma Siddique, Director of Counselling, Psychotherapy and Experiential Therapies, School of Education, University of Aberdeen, Scotland





“‘Our real humanness, as God brings us into being, is not that of separateness and isolation, but that of belonging to God and being the partaker of God’s unfailing love. . . For the Hebrew word, Shalom is the near term to health to express a person’s well-being of life and fullness.’ I see the work of Priscilla as one driven by and for shalom, especially in the story of her ministry with these two close friends. And I believe her work can direct others toward similar lives of service.”


—Gary A. Parrett, Former Professor of Educational Ministry and Worship, Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary