Dr. Alan Weissenbacher

After receiving an education in biology and at seminary, Dr. Alan Weissenbacher worked for the Denver Rescue Mission as a chaplain to the homeless. He helped move homeless and addicted people out of an urban setting to a one-hundred-acre farm, giving them opportunities to help run the farm, care for animals, and receive therapy tailored to their individual needs: counseling, addiction therapy, job training, and more. Inspired by the struggles of his clients and filled with the desire to improve...See more

After receiving an education in biology and at seminary, Dr. Alan Weissenbacher worked for the Denver Rescue Mission as a chaplain to the homeless. He helped move homeless and addicted people out of an urban setting to a one-hundred-acre farm, giving them opportunities to help run the farm, care for animals, and receive therapy tailored to their individual needs: counseling, addiction therapy, job training, and more. Inspired by the struggles of his clients and filled with the desire to improve Christian rehabilitation, Alan resigned from his position at the Denver Rescue Mission and enrolled in a doctorate program. He studied neuroscience and spiritual formation at the Center for Theology and the Natural Sciences in Berkeley and engaged with the question of how to improve addiction recovery, church practices, and spiritual formation using the scientific knowledge of the brain. Alan serves as the managing editor for the academic journal Theology and Science and has published works with Johns Hopkins University Press, Vernon Press, and ATF Press on the subjects of science, religion, and ethics. He authored the chapter on neuroscience and the human person in the second edition of the college textbook Science and Religion: A Historical Introduction in addition to articles in several journals, including Theology and Science , Dialog , Wesleyan Theological Journal , and Zygon . Alan currently works as a stay-at-home dad to two young boys while he writes, guest lectures, consults, and bakes cool themed cakes for his kids (the fire-breathing dragon cake is their favorite to date). See less