Claiming a Substantive View of Presence: The Significance of the Pastor's Self
Main Article Content
Abstract
The notion of "presence," or a "ministry of presence," is central to the practice of pastoral care and counseling, though many appropriations of this concept have the potential to minimize the impact of pastoral care giving, thereby leaving something to be desired for the one(s) receiving care. A substantive view of presence is claimed in light of historical trends within the discipline of pastoral care and counseling, and an incarnational view of presence. Two distinct models for pastoral formation, namely developing pastoral capacity and Internal Family Systems theory, are employed in order to explain how constricted development and self-awareness can be mitigated for the sake of increasing pastoral effectiveness. A case study is presented to demonstrate how these concepts benefit the practice of pastoral care and counseling.
Article Details
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the terms specified in the Author Guidelines.
References
Anderson, Herbert. “Incarnation and Pastoral Care.†Pastoral Psychology 32, no. 4 (1984): 239-250.
Anderson, Ray. The Shape of Practical Theology: Empowering Ministry with Theological Praxis. Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity Press, 2001.
Boisen, Anton T. The Exploration of the Inner World: A Study of Mental Disorder and Religious Experience. Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1971.
Browning, Don S. A Fundamental Practical Theology: Descriptive and Strategic Proposals. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1991.
Buber, Martin. I and Thou. Translated by Walter Kaufman. New York, NY: Touchstone, 1996.
Chopp, Rebecca S. The Praxis of Suffering: An Interpretation of Liberation and Political Theologies. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 1986.
Clebsh, William A., and Charles R. Jaekle. Pastoral Care in a Historical Perspective. New Jersey: Jason Aronson Inc., 1994.
Clinebell, Howard. Basic Types of Pastoral Care & Counseling: Resources for the Ministry of Healing and Growth. Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 2011.
Cooper-White, Pamela. Many Voices: Pastoral Psychotherapy in Relational and Theological Perspective. Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 2007.
Doehring, Carrie. The Practice of Pastoral Care: A Postmodern Approach. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2006.
Earley, Jay. Self-Therapy. Larkspur, CA: Pattern System Books, 2009.
Ferde, Gerheard. On Being a Theologian of the Cross: Reflections on Luther's Heidelberg Disputation, 1518. Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1997.
Friedman, Jill. Narrative Therapy: Social Construction of Preferred Realities. New York, NY: Norton & Company, 1996.
Gerkin, Charles V. Crisis Experience in Modern Life: Theory and Theology for Pastoral Care. Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 1989.
Girad, Rene. I See Satan Fall Like Lightning. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 2001.
Hamman, Jaco J. Becoming a Pastor: Forming Self and Soul for Ministry. Cleveland, OH: Pilgrim Press, 2007.
Hastings, Thomas John. Practical Theology and the One Body of Christ: Toward a Missional-Ecumenical Model. Studies in Practical Theology. Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Pub., 2007.
Hiltner, Seward. Preface to Pastoral Theology. New York: Abingdon Press, 1958.
Hunsinger, Deborah van Deusen. Theology and Pastoral Counseling: A New Interdisciplinary Approach. Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans, 1995.
Hunter, Rodney J., Newton H. Malony, Liston O. Mills, John Patton, Glenn H. Asquith, James E. Dittes, Orlo Strunk Jr. ed. Dictionary of Pastoral Care and Counseling. Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 1990.
Jordan, Judith V. ed. The Complexity of Connection: Writings from the Stone Center's Jean Baker Miller Training Institute, edited by Judith V. Jordan, Maureen Walker and Linda M. Hartling, 103-129. New York, NY: Guilford Press, 2004.
Josselson, Ruthelle. The Space between Us: Exploring the Dimensions of Human Relationships. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, 1996.
Kelly, Ewan. Personhood and Presence: Self as a Resource of Spiritual and Pastoral Care. New York, NY: T&T Clark International, 2012.
Kolb, Robert. “Luther on the Theology of the Cross.†In The Pastoral Luther: Essays on Martin Luther's Practical Theology, edited by Timothy J. Wengert, 33-56. Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2009.
Loder, James E. The Logic of the Spirit: Human Development in Theological Perspective. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass Publishers, 1998.
Marin, Deborah B., Vanshdeep Sharma, Eugene Sosunov, Natalia Egorova, Rafael Godlstien, and George F. Handzo. “Relationship between Chaplain Visits and Patient Satisfaction.†Journal of Health Care Chaplaincy 21 (2015): 14-24.
Martin, Luther. Luther's Works. Edited By Jaroslav Pelikan and Helmut T. Lehman. 56 vols. St. Louis and Philadelphia, 1955-86.
Nazianzus, Gregory of. “Orations.†In The Fathers of the Church: St. Gregory of Nazianzus Select Orations. United States of America: Catholic University of America Press, 2003.
Nolan, Steve. Spiritual Care at the End of Life: The Chaplain as a 'Hopeful Presence'. Philadelphia, PA: Jessica Kingsley Publishers, 2011.
O'Lynn, Rob. Practicing Presence: Theory and Practice of Pastoral Care. Bloomington, IN: WestBowPress, 2015.
Osmer, Richard R. Practical Theology: An Introduction. Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2008.
Palmer, Parker. A Hidden Wholeness: The Journey toward an Undivided Life. San Francisco, CA: Josey-Bass, 2004.
———. Let Your Life Speak: Listening for the Voice of Vocation. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, 2000.
Pattison, Stephen. Pastoral Care and Liberation Theology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994.
Patton, John. Pastoral Care: An Essential Guide. Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 2005.
Purves, Andrew. Pastoral Theology in the Classical Tradition. 1st ed. Louisville, Ky.: Westminster John Knox Press, 2001.
Roberts, Stephen B., ed. Professional Spiritual & Pastoral Care: A Practical Clergy and Chaplain's Handbook. Woodstock, Vermont: Skylight Paths Publishing, 2012.
Schleiermacher, Friedrich, James O. Duke, and Howard W. Stone. Christian Caring: Selections from Practical Theology. Philadelphia, PA: Fortress Press, 1988.
Schwartz, Richard C. Internal Family Systems Therapy. New York, NY: Guilford Press, 1995.
Schweitzer, Friedrich, and J. A. van der Ven, eds. Practical Theology: International Perspectives. Erfahrung Und Theologie. Vol. 34. New York, NY: Peter Lang, 1999.
Ulanov, Ann Belford. Finding Space: Winnicott, God, and Pscyhic Reality. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox, 2001.
Volf, Miroslav. Exclusion and Embrace: A Theological Exploration of Identity, Otherness, and Reconciliation. Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 1996.