Duane R. Bidwell (he/him) is an award-winning pastor, writer, teacher, mentor, coach, and facilitator. He has 35 years of leadership in ministry, higher education, and the non-profit sector.

His book After the Worst Day Ever: What Sick Kids Know About Sustaining Hope in Chronic Illness explores how children with end-stage kidney disease understand and cultivate hope in the midst of illness.

Duane's expertise includes:

• spiritual and theological reflection,
• strategic planning, program evaluation, and change management,
• regional and specialized accreditation,
• qualitative research methodologies,
• equity, diversity, and inclusivity in education and healthcare,
• complex religious bonds, 
• suicide intervention, 
• spiritual direction, 
• brief coaching, and
• solution-focused and narrative practices.

After 25 years in higher education, Duane returned to the pulpit as an intentional interim minister in 2025. Through at least 2029, he is pastor of Claremont Presbyterian Church in Claremont, California, as the congregation transitions to a solo pastor model.

From 2022-2025, Duane was an Educational, Teaching, and Research Associate for the Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine. In that capacity, he served on the faculty of the Department of Health Professions Education in the School of Medicine at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USU) in Bethesda, Maryland.

At USU, he oversaw a collaboration between the university and the US Veterans Health Administration to improve educational leadership at medical centers across the country.

From 2010-2022, Duane was professor of practical theology, spiritual care, and counseling at Claremont School of Theology in California, where he also maintained a clinical practice at The Clinebell Institute for Pastoral Counseling and Psychotherapy.

Duane's current research specializes in leadership, comparative approaches to mental health and spirituality, and Buddhist-Christian studies.

He has published six books and more than 40 peer-reviewed articles and chapters. His work has been featured on National Public Radio, CNN, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Interfaith Radio, and in The Utne Reader. He frequently appears as a featured guest on podcasts.

His last book, When One Religion Isn’t Enough: The Lives of Spiritually Fluid People (Beacon Press, 2018), was a Library Journal “Best Book of 2018" and a best-seller for the publisher.