Laura Gilbertson

Job Titles

  • Program Director
    Christian Ministries (B.A.), College of Adult and Professional Studies
  • Assistant Professor of Christian Ministries
    Social Work (B.A.) College of Adult and Professional Studies
  • Assistant Professor of Reconciliation Studies
    Reconciliation Studies College of Arts and Sciences

Highlight

American Evangelicalism, culture, systematic theology, sociology of religion, race, gender, and topics connected to justice and reconciliation.

Started at Bethel

2005

Education

  • University of Minnesota - B.A., 2000
  • Bethel Seminary - M.Div., 2005
  • University of Minnesota - M.A. in Sociology, 2021

Biography

Laura Gilbertson has taught at Bethel University since 2005 and is Program Director and Assistant Professor of Christian Ministries. She is completing her doctorate in sociology at the University of Minnesota. Her research has examined the cultural dimensions of American evangelicalism. She has served as Pastor of Care Ministries at Westwood Community Church, and continues to serve in a non-staff position through teaching and preaching. For several years, she served as Assistant Director of Spiritual Formation at Bethel University, where she oversaw small group discipleship. While in seminary, she received training for hospital chaplaincy. She is passionate about equipping women and men to use their gifts in diverse ministry settings.

Courses Taught

  • CHMN300: Foundations of Christian Ministry
  • THEO441/THE201: Christian Theology
  • CORE300: Community, Self, and Formation
  • CORE330: Examining Crucial Questions
  • RES201: Inroduction to Reconciliation Studies
  • SOWK200: Sociology for Social Workers
  • ANT200U: Introduction to Anthropology
  • BIB308J: Biblical Theology of Reconciliation
  • BIBL341: The Gospel in Cross Cultural Perspective
  • THEO415: Understanding Worldviews

Awards

2019 Faculty Excellence Award (CAPS/SEM/GS)

Certificates and Licenses

Licensed Pastor at Westwood Community Church, Excelsior, MN

Areas of expertise

American evangelicalism, culture, sociology of race, liberation theologies.