DEGREES OBTAINED                                             

• BA Theology (With distinction) – 1991 – University of Pretoria.
• BD Theology (With distinction) – 1994 – University of Pretoria.
• M Div (Pastoral Family Therapy) (With distinction) – 1996 – University of Pretoria.
• PhD (Pastoral Family Therapy) – I obtained the degree with a thesis under the title: Metaphoric Pastoral Family Therapy – 1999 – University of Pretoria.  
• BA Honours Degree (Psychology) – 2003 – UNISA.
• M Phil Futures Studies (With distinction) – 2010 – University of Stellenbosch.
• PhD (Practical Theology) – I obtained the degree with a thesis under the title: Tweeting God: A practical theological analysis of Christian motifs on Twitter – 2018 – University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia.

PROFESSIONAL HISTORY

• Inducted as clergyman in the Dutch Reformed Congregation, Derdepoort, on 25 February 1995.
• Inducted in the Dutch Reformed Congregation, Humansdorp, after acceptance of a call.  In both these congregations I was responsible for the full spectrum of pastoral duties in terms of Section 9 of the Church Ordinance.
• From 1 July 2003 I was appointed as Senior Lecturer, Department of Practical Theology, Faculty of Theology, University of the Free State. In this capacity I was responsible for the Pastoral Therapy Program that was presented on Masters- and Doctoral level.  Promoted to Associate Professor in December 2007. Promoted to Professor in January 2018.
• I am a rated researcher with the National Research Foundation of South Africa (“C-rated researcher”) – 2012 – currently.
• Head of the Department Practical and Missional Theology, Faculty of Theology and Religion, University of the Free State (April 2019 – 2021).

BOOKS

• Van den Berg, J.A. 2010. An (auto)biographical theologia habitus - Futures perspectives for the workplace. Acta Theologia 30 (Supplementum 13).

EDITED BOOKS

• Van den Berg, J.A.(ed.). 2020. Engaging the 4^th Industrial Revolution: Perspectives from theology, philosophy and education. University of the Free State Theological Explorations. Vol 3. Bloemfontein: SunPress.
• Hermans, C.A.M & Van den Berg, J.A. (ed). 2020. Battle for the heart. How (not) to transform church and society. Zürich: LIT Verlag.
• Pembroke, N., Kelly, E.; Pleizier, T., Schmidt, W.S., Van den Berg, J.A. 2022. Spiritual formation in local faith communities. A whole-person, prompt-card approach. Eugene Oregon: Wipf and Stock Publishers.

CHAPTERS IN BOOKS

• Van den Berg, J.A. 2016. Tweeting God: An autobiographical Twitter-theology, In: Compassion for one another in the Global Village: Social and cultural approaches to care and counselling, Edited by U. Elsdörfer and T.D. Ito. Zürich: LIT Verlag. 116-128.

• Schoeman, K. & Van den Berg, J.A. 2016. Practical theology exploring interdisciplinary practices: The quest for engaging with lived religion in the South African context, In: Theology and the (post) apartheid condition. Genealogies and future directions. Edited by R. Venter, Bloemfontein: SUN Media: 213-231.

• Van den Berg, J.A., 2017, @jesus – A practical theological following of Jesus-expressions on Twitter In: Making sense of Jesus. Experiences, interpretations and identities. Edited by F. Tolmie & R. Venter, Bloemfontein: SUN Media: 238-260.
• Van den Berg, J.A., 2018, ‘Tweeting God: Redefining future Christian leadership through Twitter?’, in R. Brouwer (ed.), The Future of (Lived) Religious Leadership, pp. 83-98, Amsterdam: VU University Press.
• Van den Berg, J.A. 2019, ‘In the shadows of things to come: Contingencies, the 4^th Industrial Revolution and Theologies of practice’, in: Chris A.M. Hermans & Kobus Schoeman (eds.), Theology in an age of contingency, 65-77, Zürich: LIT Verlag.  

ARTICLES

• Van den Berg, J.A. 2016. An (auto)biographical Twitter theology. HTS Teologiese Studies/Theological Studies 72(4). a3392. http://dx.doi.org/10.4102/hts.v72i4.3392
• Swart, M.J., Joubert, G., Van den Berg, J.A. & Van Zyl, G.J. 2016. Tabula viva chirurgic: a living surgical document. Cardiovascular Journal of Africa, 27(2):139-145.

• Van den Berg, J.A., 2017, ‘Tweeting dignity: A practical theological reflection on Twitter’s normative function’, HTS Teologiese Studies/TheologicalStudies 73(4),a4626. https://doi.org/10/4102/hts.v73i4.462
• Pembroke, N., Coyle, S., Gear, J., Gubi, P., Kelly, E., Louw, D., McMillan, L., Niven, A., Thierfelder, C., Schmidt, W. & Van den Berg, J.A. 2018. Toward a structured, tri-domain model of companioning in Christian formation by pastoral agents in a congregational setting: A preliminary report on an international research project. Journal of Pastoral Care & Counseling, 72(2):104-115.

• Van den Berg, J.A., 2019, ‘Tweeting God: Notes on articulating a Twitter theology, HTS Teologiese Studies/Theological Studies 75(4), a5553. https://doi.org/10.4102/hts.v75i4.5553
• Van den Berg, J.A. 2020. Reflecting words: An (auto)biographical reflection from a (practical) theologian. Scriptura 119(3):1-11.
• Van den Berg, J.A. 2021. Bekentenisse van ’n YouTube-prediker: Voorlopige outo-etnografiese refleksies oor die opname en lei van ’n digitale erediens. In die Skriflig 55(2):a2740. https://doi.org/10.4102/ids.v55i2.2740.
• Van den Berg, J.A. 2021. @stephanjoubert: Tweeting the gospel aphoristically. HTS Teologiese Studies/Theological Studies 77(4):a6697. https://doi.org/10.4102/hts.v77i4.6697.

My focus is currently on the tracing and describing of authentic Christian expressions in the digital world. It is envisaged that this practical theological research will generate insights into new and relevant descriptions of lived religion. I’ve initially specialised in narrative pastoral family therapy as well as with further research in the field of future studies.

• Postgraduate courses in practical theology.
• Study guidance to postgraduate students.