Experience Healing at the Source

The Trauma Healing Initiative, in collaboration with Auburn Theological Seminary, invites students who have completed or participated in a THI cohort or a relevant seminary program to deepen their formation in restorative justice and trauma-informed ministry through an immersive, hands-on learning experience in Indigenous communities in Montana, August 10-17, 2026.

Journey with the Northern Cheyenne and Crow Nations to learn directly from traditions that ground community healing. This seminar centers Indigenous cosmology and worldview, the power of narrative for meaning-making, approaches to trauma and healing, and restorative practices that shape life together—engaging stories, rituals, and relationships with humility and respect.

What You’ll Learn

As a participant, you will engage in on-site learning experiences that will help you:

  • Ground restorative practice in Indigenous tradition by exploring historical and communal practices that inform circle-keeping and RJ (restorative justice) methods.

  • Build cross-cultural competence through first-hand engagement with responses to systemic oppression and the ongoing impacts of settler colonialism.

  • Strengthen pastoral imagination by visiting sites of faith, spirituality, and meaning—examining both the legacies of mission work and the strengths of interfaith service in complex spiritual contexts.

  • Grow collegial networks alongside Auburn Seminary leadership fellows, broadening your exposure to healing modalities shaped by Indigenous philosophy and practice. 

What to Expect

You’ll document, reflect, and translate field learning into ministry practice. Here’s how your week in Montana will unfold — immersive learning, humble relationship-building, and practices you’ll carry home:

  • On-site engagement with leaders and places significant to Northern Cheyenne and Crow communities

  • Guided learning on Indigenous cosmology, narrative, trauma-aware healing, and restorative practices

  • Critical reflections that will challenge you to consider how stories make or transform us, throughout and after travel 

  • Pastoral imagination exercises, sensing your own community through an Indigenous lens (what you see, hear, feel, smell, taste)

  • Collaboration with Auburn Seminary educators and fellows

Participants will be able to develop ministry project proposals fueled by new possibilities for ministry emerging from immersion.

Key Dates

  • Applications: Tuesday, Nov. 25, 2025 - January 19, 2026 (Final selections made around late February 2026)

  • $500 Deposit Due: February 27, 2026

  • Remaining Balance Due: April 17, 2026

  • Hybrid Prep Seminars: Spring–Summer 2026 (2–3 sessions; Dates TBA)

  • Travel Seminar: August 10–17, 2026

  • Closing Assignment/Event: September 2026 

This travel seminar is now open to McCormick students who meet the prerequisites (see below). Space is limited.

  • THI Micro-Credential in Community Healing Practices (MCHP): completion or participation

  • McCormick Master’s: Intro to Pastoral Care

  • McCormick Doctoral: Trauma-Informed Ministry Praxis 

About the Faculty Co-Leads

Rev. Dr. Stephanie Crumpton is the Director of the Trauma Healing Initiative and Associate Professor of Practical Theology at McCormick Theological Seminary. An ordained minister in the United Church of Christ, her work centers trauma, pastoral care, and the intersections of faith and justice. Dr. Crumpton holds degrees from Columbia Theological Seminary, Johnson C. Smith Seminary, and Langston University. Her latest book, We Gon’ Be Alright, explores pathways to resilience and healing.

 

Erica Littlewolf, Vonȧhe’e, is the Director of Storytelling and Narrative Change at Auburn Theological Seminary. Erica was born into a community rich in oral tradition and storytelling and applies her upbringing to her vocational calling. She has been doing this work professionally for over 20 years in faith communities globally. Erica has done numerous workshops on how church communities can engage with Indigenous communities and repair historical harms. She engages restorative justice within her analysis and has also co-authored a chapter in “Colorizing Restorative Justice”. Erica enjoys spending time with her nieces, dogs and online thrifting.

More About the Trauma Healing Initiative

The Trauma Healing Initiative (THI) equips pastors, changemakers, and community leaders to respond to trauma with wisdom, resilience, and care. Through courses, workshops, and resources — including a trauma-informed micro-credential — THI offers practical tools for engaging trauma, centering the well-being of both caregivers and the communities they serve.

Funded by the Lilly Endowment’s Pathways to Tomorrow Initiative, THI advances best practices in trauma-informed ministry, preparing leaders to guide communities toward healing and wholeness.

Back to Trauma Healing Initiative homepage.