Pastoral Theology And Care

From a thoroughly biblical viewpoint Eduard Thurneysen probes deeply into the nature and practice of pastoral care. His rich understanding of men, his experience in counseling, and his grasp of theological thought infuse his approach with vitality and truth. As he considers the basis of pastoral care, Thurneysen puts forward the thesis that the purpose of counseling is to communicate the Word of God to individuals. Pastoral care is a ministry along with those of sermon and sacrament; its aim is to lead the counselee back to sermon and sacrament in the worship of the church. Although he does little more than hint at rules and techniques for pastoral care, Thurneysen is greatly concerned with its practical aspects. It is his belief that the care of souls occurs through conversation--confident, open-minded conversation which is founded on the Word of God, informed by prayer, and manifested in active listening to, and acceptance of, the counselee. Thurneysen demonstrates the importance of a knowledge of psychology and the principles of psychotherapy. Depth psychology and psychotherapy deeply enrich our understanding of human nature and serve to communicate the message of forgiveness all the more powerfully. This book provides a critical theological study of the whole field of pastoral care. As a work in practical theology, it will be stimulating and useful to professors of counseling as well as to students in the field. Counselors and pastors will find it helpful because it throws light on the fundamental issues involved in problems which they face in their ministries.

Leading pastoral theologians explore a wide variety of themes related to pastoral practice. Pastoral Theology and Care: Critical Trajectories in Theory and Practice offers a collection of essays by leading pastoral theologians that represent emerging trajectories in the fields of pastoral theology and care. The topics explored include: qualitative research and ethnography, advances in neuroscience, care across pluralities and intersections in religion and spiritualties, the influence of neoliberal economics in socio-economic vulnerabilities, postcolonial theory and its implications, the intersections of race and religion in caring for black women, and the usefulness of intersectionality for pastoral practice. Each of the essays offers a richly illustrated review of a practice of pastoral care relationally and in the public domain. The contributions to this volume engage seven critical directions emerging in the literature of pastoral theology in the United States and internationally among pastoral and practical theologians. While coverage of these topics does not exhaust important points of activity in the field, it does represent especially promising resources for theory and practice. This important work: Offers unique coverage of new directions in the field Includes contributions from an exceptional group of experts who are noted leaders in their areas of study Introduces the newest perspectives on pastoral care and offers constructive proposals Filled with case illustrations that make chapters pedagogically useful, Pastoral Theology and Care is essential reading for faculty, seminarians and students in advanced degree programs, and pastors.

Too often pastoral care is uninformed by historical practice and is overly influenced by psychological theory and practice, according to Andrew Purves. At least one consequence of this is that it is often disaffiliated from the church's theological heritage. Purves examines Christian writers from the past who represent the classical tradition in pastoral theology--classical in the sense that they and their texts have shaped the minds and practices of pastors in enduring ways. He reflects on texts from Gregory Nazianzus, John Chrysostom, Gregory the Great, Martin Bucer, and Richard Baxter. He includes a brief biography of each author, introduces the major themes in the writer's theology, and discusses the issues arising for pastoral work.

Written by significant researchers and practitioners within the field, this unique collection of key texts introduces the reader to practical theology. It critically explores the way in which the spiritual dimension of pastoral care has entered into constructive dialogue with other disciplines and ways of thinking, including: psychiatry, psychology, counselling, intercultural studies, educational methodology, narrative theory and political studies. Set within this multidisciplinary context, the individual contributions (a selection of articles from a leading journal of pastoral theology, Contact: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Pastoral Studies) cover a wide range of practical and theological issues that alert the reader to the spiritual dimension of pastoral care, such as bereavement, sexuality, ethics, learning disabilities, infertility, the meaning of pain, sickness and suffering and the nature of theology as a practical discipline. The book is an invaluable resource for practitioners, researchers, students and all who have an interest in the ways in which a spiritual dimension can enhance caring practices within a multidisciplinary context.

Lartey has lived and taught for many years in Africa, Great Britain, and the United States. He shares his intercultural approach to pastoral care, an approach which is vital to the increasingly wide range of both lay and ordained practitioners who work in different settings, whether new to the field or already established.

An expert in the field of pastoral care, John Patton demonstrates that pastoral care is a ministry of the church. He focuses on the community of faith as an authorizer and source of care and upon the relationship between the pastor and a caring community. Patton identifies and compares three paradigms of pastoral care: the classical, the clinical pastoral, and the communal contextual. This third paradigm emphasizes the caring community and the various contexts for care rather than focusing on pastoral care as the work of the ordained pastor.

The essentials of pastoral care involve the pastor's distinctive task of caring for those who are estranged--the lost sheep. Taken from the biblical image of the shepherd, the pastor by virtue of his or her professional calling cultivates wise judgment in order to hear the hurting and offer guidance, reconciliation, healing, sustaining presence, and empowerment to those in need. This book will outline the quintessential elements pastors need to wisely minister in today's context by discussing four major kinds of lostness: grief, illness, abuse, and family challenges. The purpose of the Abingdon Essential Guides is to fulfill the need for brief, substantive, yet highly accessible introductions to the core disciples in biblical, theological, and religious studies. Drawing on the best in current scholarship, written with the need of students foremost in mind, addressed to learners in a number of contexts, Essential Guides will be the first choice of those who wish to acquaint themselves or their students with the broad scope of issues, perspectives, and subject matters within biblical and religious studies.

In Theological Context for Pastoral Caregiving, Howard W. Stone helps his fellow pastors and worship leaders provide effective and faithful pastoral care and counseling through the study of the correlation between pastoral care and theology. You will learn that in order for pastoral care to be effective it must have a theological base to shape the caregiving experience. At the same time, theology must be informed by the needs and experiences of the people being served and by the ministry of pastoral care. By relating these two issues, you gain a unique viewpoint not offered by books with simply a psychological focus. The author draws from his day-to-day clinical practice of pastoral care and counseling to show how pastoral care and theology can be brought together. Through Howard Stone’s work, the reader learns of: an overview of pastoral care and counseling today how to provide a pastoral assessment of the persons served the author’s theological understanding of the ministry of pastoral care and counseling methods for correlating theology and pastoral care how spiritual direction as a discipline can help pastoral care and counseling ministry regain a solid theological base theological themes that might be more explicitly and intentionally related to pastoral care Theological Context for Pastoral Caregiving provides useful information for parish pastors, people in training to be parish pastors, and specialists in the field of pastoral care counseling. As one of the easiest-to-read books on this subject, it can also be used as a text for graduate-level classes in courses such as Theology and Pastoral Care, Pastoral Theology, and Practical Theology. With this book, seminary students will finally be able to relate the practical things learned in pastoral counseling classes with what is learned in theology classes.