A Pella Christian alumnus is coming back to the community to share poetry.

Pastor, Poet, and Psychotherapist Carroll Arkema, a 1966 graduate, will present poems from his two books Beyond Me: Poems about Spirit in Scripture, Psychotherapy, and Life, and Poems of Mourning and Healing Memory on Sunday, April 8, at 2:00 p.m. in the Pella Christian High School library. Arkema tells KNIA/KRLS News he aims to draw attention to those moments, persons, relationships, and memories which have moved him deeply.

His poems are narratives that often draw on biblical stories and characters as a way of accessing and understanding the deeper layers of human life.

“I was inspired to write these poems,” he continues, “from experiences I had as a child on the farm in Iowa and as an adult in the New York metropolitan area where I’ve lived since I graduated from college.”

Carroll still lives in New Jersey, and continues his Healing Ministry in New Jersey and Manhattan. Arkema will also present at Second Reformed Church at 1:30 p.m. on April 14 and at the Garden Chapel Funeral Home at 7 p.m. on April 16.