A woman with short brown hair sitting on a green couch, smiling, wearing a white shirt and black leather jacket, with a red wall and wooden accent in the background.

Hi, I’m Eva…

Chaplain Eva Bleeker

EdD, BCC, MS, MA/MC, MA/CE

Asking me to tell my story is like asking an Enneagram coach to take an Enneagram evaluation. As a Narrative Theorist I know how to punk this assignment.

I can tell the heroic story or a traumatic one. How I tell my story will be influenced by your body language: how you listen, what you lean in to hear, whether you hold my gaze or look away. But I can’t see those signals here, so let me just start with the truest thing in my story…

God gives me ongoing evidence—in all the different circumstances of my life—that LOVE is the truest thing about him.

My life story is unusual in some ways and really vanilla in others. As I child I learned to hide inside a story that was positive and simple, when in truth it was lots of image-management, pain, and confusion about church.

I lived in ten houses before moving myself to college at seventeen. While the moves often punctuated difficult seasons in my family’s life, they also exposed me to all sorts of people, friends, cultures, and climates. This has made an indelible mark on my work and ministry today, for which I am immensely grateful.

The way I grew up also made me self-reliant. In some ways that worked for me, in other ways I still need to tell a better story to myself every day. I have experienced the highs of heralded achievements beyond my years. I have also known the devastating lows of feeling too broken to function. The loving pursuit of God met me in each and every place along the way. He loves me more than I want to be loved sometimes.

I love to learn.

My studies have taken me and my equally studious husband Josh from Dallas to DC and finally to Denver. For twenty years we had longed to live in Colorado. Now we live that adventure together every day with our dog Ramsie Ruth.

In addition to my work in Narrative Theory, I also love teaching the Bible, and served as a pastor.

Just writing that reminds me of the many ways God has demo’d and reno’d my gender theology over the years. While we have seen a recent increase in biblically-balanced scholarship on the topic of women in ministry, there remains a heavy weight of misunderstanding, judgment and even silencing of female voices that is carried by so many of my sisters who feel called to these spaces.

I’m so grateful my little conservative bible church in Texas chose to break new ground by hiring me. The pastor who opened that door remains an important person to me and to Josh, and now he teaches in my program at Denver Seminary.

A smiling woman with short brown hair stands in front of a teal wall with a butterfly-shaped art installation made of large brown and white wings, feathers, and a twig crown.

There is no cape in chaplaincy. You’re not the hero and if you think you are you will do damage…

I usually over-identify with my work, so this has been a hard-won lesson. Looking back, I can see how the Lord has always been ahead of me in time, and he already loves these people I’m going to help more than I ever could. I get to participate in what he’s doing and how he’s showing love to people.

By serving as a healing witness to others I get to experience the Lord as LOVE—not just intellectually, but in an embodied way.

One of the most beautiful parts of this work is its accessibility. Story work doesn’t privilege a certain group the way our culture might. At its roots, it is explicitly aligned with justice and equity. Anyone can do it anywhere.

And it is my sacred privilege to help you learn how.

- eB

    • Doctor of Education (2022) - Baylor University | Dissertation: “Chaplains and Narrative Identity: A Convergent Mixed-Methods Study of Clinical Pastoral Education Interns”

    • Board Certified Chaplain (2018) - Association of Professional Chaplains

    • Master of Science in Narrative Medicine (2017) - Columbia University

    • Residency in Clinical Pastoral Education (2010) - Baylor University Medical Center

    • Master of Arts in Christian Education (2008) - Dallas Theological Seminary

    • Bachelor of Arts in English (2000) - Kansas State University

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    • Assistant Professor & Department Chair for Chapliancy and Pastoral Care 2023 – Present
      Denver Seminary
      Courses: CO500 Pastoral Care and Counseling Relationships, CO501 Theological Foundations for Counseling,
      CO550 The Many Faces of Chaplaincy, CO647 Grief and Loss Counseling, CHP650/775 Community-Based
      Clinical Pastoral Education, CHP651 Clinical Pastoral Education Experience

    • Teaching Fellow/Assistant Professor 2020 – 2023
      Denver Seminary
      Courses: CO500 Pastoral Care and Counseling Relationships, CO501 Theological Foundations for Counseling,
      CO647 Grief and Loss Counseling, CHP650/775 Community-Based Clinical Pastoral Education, CHP651
      Clinical Pastoral Education Experience.

    • Associated Faculty and CPE Consultant 2019 – 2020
      Denver Seminary
      Courses: CO500 Pastoral Care and Counseling Relationships, CO560 Brief Counseling in Ministry Settings, PME604 Worship Theory and Practice.
      CPE Administration: Consultant and support staff for ACPE accreditation process.

    • Hospital Chaplain 2015 to 2019 Sentara Northern Virginia Medical Center (Woodbridge, VA)

    • Director of Senior Adult Ministry 2015 to 2016
      Grace United Methodist Church (Manassas, VA)

    • Hospital Chaplain 2009 to 2014 Baylor University Medical Center (Dallas, TX)

    • Pastoral Staff 2011 to 2014 Skillman Bible Church (Dallas, TX)

    • Assistant to the Chaplain 2004 to 2008
      Dallas Theological Seminary (Dallas, TX)

    • Media Specialist/Cuba Mission Team 2001 to 2004
      East-West Ministries International (Addison, TX)

    • Columbia University Narrative Medicine Alumna
      Since 2017

    • Association of Professional Chaplains
      Full member since 2018

    • American Educational Research Association
      Full member since 2023

  • Above: “Professional Experience”

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A scrapbook layout with multiple photos including a woman in a graduation gown, a man and woman drinking, a woman in a hat, a city park, a child, and a person in winter gear with a mask, all arranged on pages with corners taped down.

My extraordinary partner, Josh, lives the most congruent life I’ve ever witnessed…

Chaplain Eva Bleeker and her husband Josh are pictured smiling, sitting on a bench outdoors near a bush with brown leaves.

Here’s another example of how the Lord is always ahead of us in our stories. When I was in junior high and high school in my small hometown, Josh was going to school ten miles away. I knew his name, but our stories didn’t converge for a few more years.

In 1996 I went to Kansas State University. It was my first place to begin studying stories. I met Josh on the first day. We got married in 1999, and I received my degree in literature with him by my side.

In 2000 we moved to Texas. Josh enrolled at Dallas Theological Seminary while I worked to make ends meet. Four years later, it was my turn to go to grad school. And on we’ve gone, with ebbs and flows in school and ministry and life together. Even in the most broken of seasons, Josh has been faithfully with me.

Josh is a scholar with his own brilliant passions, but he has never been envious of the way I am received in the public sphere. As I sense the Lord leading me into new territory these days, I am so grateful for the incredible gift of his unwavering support, wisdom, and help at every turn.

  • A woman with shoulder-length light brown hair is smiling, wearing a navy blue blazer with a light lavender shirt underneath.

    "It's rare to find such theological depth brought to the questions of pastoral counseling, but Eva has impressed me with her remarkable exegetical skills that opens Scripture in new, pastorally sensitive ways. As the Church engages with trauma victims and survivors, Eva's incredible insights will help them do better to reduce trauma situations, and to help more people live in spiritual and emotional health."

    —DR. LYNN COHICK, Distinguished Professor of New Testament and Director of Houston Theological Seminary

  • A smiling woman with shoulder-length, wavy blonde hair, wearing a black leather short-sleeve button-up shirt, earrings, and a bracelet, sitting indoors with a blurred background.

    “If an empathetic counselor and a brilliant Bible scholar got matched on some Christian dating site, got married, and had a baby she'd be Dr. Eva Bleeker! She's the loveliest amalgamation of compassion and wisdom—engaging with her is the equivalent of encountering Christoformic grace.”

    —LISA HARPER, Host, Back Porch Theology; Founder, The Kerygma Summit

  • A man is smiling, wearing a light blue shirt and standing outside in front of a window.

    "Rare is the person who brings genuine compassion, pastoral wisdom, theological depth, a deep knowledge of Scripture and a genuine walk with Jesus into every conversation. No wound is too deep or question too confounding for Chaplain Eva because her presence is framed by the love of Christ and the hope of the gospel."

    —DR. MARK YOUNG, Chancellor, Denver Seminary

  • Image of a smiling man wearing a navy blue suit.

    "Of all the chaplains I have encountered throughout my career, Chaplain Eva is the one I most aspire to emulate. She so clearly embodies the love and compassion of Christ, living fully in grace and truth. God has uniquely gifted her and entrusted her with a powerful Christian voice for our current cultural moment, offering wisdom and clarity through a life deeply formed by Christ."

    —REV. CRAIG ZEBELL, MDiv, BCC; Former Student, now Current Chaplain and Colleague

  • Man wearing a navy blue suit speaking on a stage.

    “Chaplain Eva embodies the hands and feet of Jesus by combining her keen intellect, academic depth, hard earned wisdom, and curious, compassionate care for others. She is an adept preacher, teacher, and practitioner of the gospel. Her open and inviting strength puts God’s word, God’s Spirit, and God’s people in full focus for the ministering to all souls.”

    —BRANDON YOUNG, Principal, Applied Leadership Partners

  • Photo of a smiling woman wearing a black blouse.

    "Eva is one of a handful of individuals who I trust professionally and personally in absolutely every situation. She has a rare gift of combining the ability to think strategically and act as a visionary, with the skills of inspiring others to take healthy risks that grow themselves and the institution, infusing and awakening hope and possibilities even in the midst of great life and work challenges."

    —LISA TURNER, Associate General Counsel, Baylor University

  • A smiling middle-aged woman with gray hair, wearing glasses with tortoiseshell frames, earrings, a black blazer, and a gray top, standing outdoors with a building and blue sky in the background.

    “I once described Eva Bleeker as the smartest person I’ve ever met, and I stand by it—she is brilliantly thoughtful, with an extraordinary ability to connect what she reads, hears, and experiences. Just as importantly, she brings a rare pastoral presence; she is the first-choice chaplain I would want at my bedside.”

    —SANDRA GLAHN, ThM, PhD; Author, Nobody’s Mother