Prophetic Imagination in Public Health: A Theological Dialogue with Memphis's Congregational Health Network
Catheryne Cunningham, and Jia Cummings, Duke University
Theologian Walter Brueggemann, in his book The Prophetic Imagination, challenges the modern Church towards a ministry that “would engage both the prophetic and the pastoral.” Prophetic imagination, for Brueggemann, is the creative and theological work of holding grief and hope together– of naming what is misaligned with God’s vision and envisioning methods of restoration. He describes this dual movement as prophetic criticism and prophetic energizing. Through prophetic criticism, the prophet exposes illusions that sustain systems of triumphalism, oppression, and exploitation. Through prophetic energizing, the prophet awakens the community to visions of God’s alternative society. Using the Exodus story as a central example, Brueggemann finds this imagination in Moses during Israel’s break from “the religion of static triumphalism” toward the creation of a new, redeemed community.
This essay brings Brueggemann’s theological framework into conversation with the Congregational Health Network (CHN), a partnership between Methodist Healthcare and Memphis-area congregations that connects the hospital system, clergy, and community liaisons in the work of holistic care. Much like the Exodus story, CHN seeks to reimagine communal relationships in the midst of complex systems. Using Brueggemann’s categories of prophetic criticism and prophetic energizing, we will explore how CHN’s practices of collaboration, mutual trust, and relational care may embody elements of prophetic imagination. Viewed through a theological lens, such practices invite reflection on how prophetic imagination might find expression within population health, particularly through partnership and compassion.
We will turn to the prophets of Israel, and to Brueggemann’s interpretation of their witnesses, attending to the balance between lament and hope that constitutes prophetic imagination. We will then examine the development and structure of CHN as a modern community of shared healing. By bringing these two voices into dialogue, we hope to illuminate a practical model of prophetic imagination into population medicine today and invite both healthcare practitioners and faith communities to consider what a prophetic posture could mean for the shared work of healing.
This essay brings Brueggemann’s theological framework into conversation with the Congregational Health Network (CHN), a partnership between Methodist Healthcare and Memphis-area congregations that connects the hospital system, clergy, and community liaisons in the work of holistic care. Much like the Exodus story, CHN seeks to reimagine communal relationships in the midst of complex systems. Using Brueggemann’s categories of prophetic criticism and prophetic energizing, we will explore how CHN’s practices of collaboration, mutual trust, and relational care may embody elements of prophetic imagination. Viewed through a theological lens, such practices invite reflection on how prophetic imagination might find expression within population health, particularly through partnership and compassion.
We will turn to the prophets of Israel, and to Brueggemann’s interpretation of their witnesses, attending to the balance between lament and hope that constitutes prophetic imagination. We will then examine the development and structure of CHN as a modern community of shared healing. By bringing these two voices into dialogue, we hope to illuminate a practical model of prophetic imagination into population medicine today and invite both healthcare practitioners and faith communities to consider what a prophetic posture could mean for the shared work of healing.