Cynthia Gano Lindner

Cynthia Lindner received her training in the Divinity School’s Doctor of Ministry program with emphases in biblical studies, ethics, and psychological studies. She has worked as a parish pastor, hospice chaplain, and pastoral psychotherapist for over thirty years. Her teaching and research interests include questions of contemporary ministerial identity and formation, multi-religious theological education, the practice and ethics of preaching and pastoral care in multicultural society, and the role of religious communities in addressing communal violence and trauma. She also studies the interface of corporate worship and public witness, as well as its impact on identity formation and congregational life. She is one of the directors of the Divinity School's Chicago Commons Project, an early-career pastoral leadership development program funded by the Lilly Endowment. 

Lindner explores pastoral multiple-mindedness in her book Varieties of Gifts: Multiplicity and the Well-Lived Pastoral Life (Rowman & Littlefield 2016), and is currently developing two new research projects: one on the narrative experience of congregational life, and another on collaboration as pastoral practice. 

Lindner is also a pastoral psychotherapist at the Center for Religion and Psychotherapy, where she conducts clergy groups and offers congregational consultation in addition to her work with individuals and couples. Lindner is a member of the American Association of Pastoral Counselors and the International Association for Spiritual Care.