Gisela H. Kreglinger, LLC
My name is Gisela, and I believe that this life we live is an incredibly beautiful gift from God. The question of what it means to be alive in this world and flourish wherever we are planted is a life-long pursuit of mine. Many years ago I left my home in Germany in order to study a theology that would engage all of life, contemporary culture and the gifts of creation in meaningful ways.
I love to travel, and going to museums is one of my favorite Sunday afternoon activities. I have lived, laughed, cried, made friends, studied, and taught in five different countries. This experience has given me a great perspective on life and what it means to be fully alive in a time when the world seems to spin into unknown and sometimes scary territory. When I am not sitting at my desk writing, you might find me paddling on a river, baking bread, leading seminars on spiritual subjects like the power of story or wine and food as spiritual gifts that we need to reclaim. But best of all I like being with family and friends, sitting around a table, enjoying a beautiful meal and sipping a glass of well-crafted wine.
I am also a writer, theologian, and public speaker. As a writer and theologian my primary interest lies in engaging theology with the lived dimension of the Christian faith. I believe it is of utmost importance that we re-envision what Christian spirituality might look like in the 21st century and how we can engage contemporary culture in thoughtful ways. As a public speaker I have literally travelled around the world to hold events around the spirituality of wine. I teach beginners and wine experts alike how to cultivate savoring wine as a spiritual practice.
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My writings/productions include Wine in the Word (video series, 2025), Cup Overflowing: Wine's Place in Faith, Feasting, and Fellowship (2024), The Soul of Wine (2019) The Spirituality of Wine (2016) and Storied Revelations: Parables, Imagination and George MacDonald’s Christian Fiction (2013). I speak widely and internationally at conferences, churches and universities on subject matters ranging from the Christian imagination, the rebuilding of Christian communities, the role of the arts in spiritual formation and the spirituality of wine and food, my latest research interest and ongoing passion. I taught Christian Spirituality for seven years at Samford University and at the University of Alabama in Birmingham and have worked with different churches and organizations to engage creation and culture.
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On a side note, I grew up on a family winery in Germany and have been involved in wine tastings ever since I was old enough to pour wine. This experience has profoundly shaped my spiritualty and the way I do theology. My family has been crafting wine for many generations, and the local Lutheran church serves it in the Lord's Supper.
My ancestors commissioned the chalice you can see to the left in the 15th century for a Franciscan church in Rothenburg.