L. S. Carlos A. Thompson

Carlos was born in the Latin American costal port city of Cartagena, Colombia. After being adopted by an American family, he was raised in Fargo, North Dakota. Carlos has earned a B.S. in Church Ministry from Southeastern University in Lakeland, Florida; an M.A. in Religious Studies from the University of South Florida in Tampa, Florida; and an M.Th. in Ministry and Mission (Practical Theology) from the University of Aberdeen, King’s College, in Aberdeen, Scotland. He is currently a Ph.D. Candidate in Divinity at the University of Aberdeen, King’s College. He is also a Henri Nouwen Doctoral Fellow and Resident Director of the Friendship House here at Western Theological Seminary.

Carlos’ research centers around inviting the Church and those who are called to shepherd her members to be more faithful to the leading of the Holy Spirit. Within this general call, Carlos aims to draw attention to particular ways that the Church can practice more faithfully in the midst of hardships—suffering, the lived experience of chronic illness, and/or the reality of enduring bodily impairments (disability).

For him, faithful Christian practice must be grounded within the Holy Scriptures, examined alongside the traditions of our community, and enacted through the Holy Spirit. As a result of these convictions, the following questions are foundational to Carlos’ present research and spiritual reflection: what is it that makes a Christian community ‘Christian’ and ‘communal’? What does it mean to be ‘healed’? How are Christians to understand ‘healing’ in the midst of enduring disability and chronic illness?

Carlos is a Charismatic-reformed Pentecostal who lives with congenital Cerebral Palsy. When he is not writing or catching up on reading, he enjoys eating food with friends, lifting weights, spending time by the water, playing the piano, drinking good coffee, and savoring good tea. He has always wanted to try sky-diving, learn how to sail, visit the monasteries on Mount Athos, and adopt a hairless cat.