Craig Steffan
Craig A. Steffen is an American author, educator, entrepreneur and activist. He is author of A Family Apart: Sleuthing the Mysteries of Abandonment, Adoption and DNA – A Memoir (2014 Greyden Press). Steffen has an extensive history in adult education as a dynamic and interactive Adjunct Professor at Indiana Wesleyan University, as a paradigm-shifting teacher in faith-based organizations, and as a successful thought-leading business consultant. A 1960s adoptee, into a fundamentalist Christian family, Steffen knows intimately how the experiences of abandonment, sibling-loss and living in “a pretend world” directly affects spiritual formation, one’s view of God, and a sense-of-place in the world. Since his book was published, Steffen has been a popular radio-guest and conference-speaker, engaging the faith and adoption communities in transformative conversations in hope of rewriting the script of his own, and others, wounded hearts.
Adoption Panel: Truth, Story, Healing, Commonwealth
In this panel, Teresa P. Pasquale, Craig A. Steffen, Mike Morrell, and AnaYelsi Velasco Sanchez share a candid look at what it’s like to deal with parental and sibling loss while being raised by parents who were not biologically related to them. Being separated from our biological tribe — either physically or emotionally — can have a profound affect on our view of our world, authority, ourselves and even how we think of God. Sharing reflections from childhood to adulthood, the panel discusses loss, grief, joy, birth family, adoptive family, chosen family, and a pursuit of healing and wholeness. Together, they explore how all that happens in our lives provides the material for finding meaning as we live into our unique authentic stories.