Director, Institute for the Study of Contemporary Spirituality
Office: Donald E. O’Shaughnessy Library, Main Floor
Email: dpocta@ost.edu
Phone: 210-341-1366, Ext. 377
Education:
Ph.D. Spirituality, Oblate School of Theology
M.S. Bible & Ministry, Lubbock Christian University
B.S. Civil Engineering, University of Minnesota
Experience:
Dr. Pocta is a spirituality scholar, ministry builder, and educator. After nearly three decades of pastoral work, he returned to school for his PhD in spirituality. His work blends his experience in pastoral ministry with spirituality scholarship. His research interests include the spiritual journey, spiritual wilderness, contemporary church culture, and Christian mysticism.
Publications:
Hope for a Reimagined Church Culture: Revelations from the Spiritual Wilderness (Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, expected late 2023).
Pocta, David, and John J. Markey, eds. The Future of Christian Spirituality—In Our Lives, In Our Churches, and In the Academy: Essays in Honor of Fr. Ron Rolheiser (New York: Crossroad Publishing, 2022).
“Thomas Kelly’s Mystical Itinerary as a Spiritual Orientation for Personal Spirituality” In The Quaker World, eds. Rhiannon Grant and Wess Daniels (New York: Routledge, 2022).
“Thomas Wayne ‘Kip’ McKean: Saint or Scoundrel—Normalizing Extreme Perspectives on a Foundational Figure in the International Churches of Christ,” Teleios 1, no 2 (Summer 2021), 43-62.