Recent Work from WTS Alumni

Western Theological Seminary celebrates the recent work of alumni whose writing, teaching, and creative scholarship are serving the church and inviting people into deeper faithfulness. From a new book on living with and among anxiety to a visually rich documentary series exploring Scripture in context, these projects reflect the variety and thoughtful work of the WTS alumni community.

Sara Billups ’24, a graduate of the Peterson Center Sacred Art of Writing D.Min. program, has expanded her cohort writing project into Nervous Systems: Spiritual Practices to Calm Anxiety in Your Body, the Church, and Politics. The book considers how anxiety touches personal life, church communities, and public life, inviting readers to seek God’s presence not by denying fear, but by engaging it with honesty, spiritual practice, and hope.

With clear prose and compassionate insight, Billups offers practical wisdom for readers whose lives feel shaped by uncertainty, cultural conflict, or constant pressure. Nervous Systems presents hope not as fragile optimism, but as a steady, Christ-centered anchor that equips readers to meet fear with clarity, courage, and calm.

WTS alumni Brad Gray and Brad Nelson, together with their team at Walking The Text, have also recently released The Sacred Thread: Season 1, a seven-part documentary series now streaming on Angel Studios, as a supplement to their book Bringing Heaven Here: How the Lords Prayer Can Change Your Life  and Our World. The series expands on the book and explores the Lord’s Prayer through cinematic storytelling, on-location filming in the biblical lands, and accessible scholarship that illuminates Scripture’s historical, cultural, geographical, and literary context.

Across its seven approximately 30-minute episodes, The Sacred Thread considers the seven central movements of the Lord’s Prayer and invites viewers to see how Jesus’ words can shape everyday life and the world. The project is part of a larger initiative that includes a feature film and companion book, Bringing Heaven Here: How the Lord’s Prayer Can Change Your Life and Our World.

Western gives thanks for alumni like Sara, Brad, and Brad, and many others whose work brings careful attention, creative imagination, and Christian hope to the questions facing the church and the world today.