W. Thomas Soeldner
Tom studied Bowen Family Systems Theory and application with Dr. Edwin Friedman in 1995-96, and thereafter continued to study with the Center for Family Process, which Friedman established in the Washington DC area, for fourteen years. Tom has participated in conferences and seminars with Dr. Michael Kerr and Daniel Papero of The Bowen Center for the Study of the Family at Georgetown University, other practitioners of Bowen Theory offered by Living Systems in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, and Leadership in Ministry in Colorado Springs, Colorado. He is also certified to teach Healthy Congregations courses. For the past 20 years has had a private practice of personal coaching and organizational consulting.
Tom has a MDiv (Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago), a MA (education – Union Presbyterian Seminary, Richmond,VA), and a Certificate in Leadership Studies (Gonzaga University Doctoral Program, Spokane,WA). He has been a parish pastor, an elementary and high school principal, a college and seminary lecturer and a community organizer.
Tom also served overseas in Southern Africa for ten years with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in South Africa, the Methodist Church of Southern Africa, and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in the Republic of Namibia. He worked in various capacities with those organizations: mission developer, community organizer and educator, seminary lecturer, and translator of worship materials.
Also while in Southern Africa, Tom served as the Southern Africa Facilitator for travel seminars organized by The Center for Global Education (CGE) of Augsburg College, Minneapolis, MN. In 1993-94 he developed and directed CGE’s accredited Semester Abroad program for U.S. university students and served as one of the faculty members for the program. After his return to the U.S. at the end of 1994 he has led five more southern Africa travel seminars for CGE.
Tom is married and lives on forty acres of forest and field south of Spokane, Washington where daily reflection on his relationship to the natural world informs both his life and coaching practice. He is a follower of Jesus, a student of Zen and religious naturalism, a lover–and sometimes writer–of poetry, and a dedicated explorer of the mystery of life.
Resilience 