Abstract
This article draws on recent work in the theology of love to propose steps toward the development of a pastoral theology of love in order to inform the practice of pastoral care. A pastoral theology of love is a necessary foundation for an ecclesial practice of pastoral care that promotes growth in love. The article defines love and addresses key issues in the theology of love, namely, human agency and the analogies that exist or do not exist between human and divine love and the concept of growth in love, or sanctification. The article concludes by proposing and sketching some key features of a pastoral theology of love for pastoral practice.
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Notes
These reflections on love are part of a larger book project with Abingdon Press in which I propose that the central purpose of Christian pastoral care is to foster the participation of persons and communities in the ongoing process of growth in love of God, self, and others (Matt. 22:36–40).
See, for example, Healing Wisdom (Greider, van Deusen Hunsinger, and Kelcourse 2010), The Practice of Pastoral Care: A Postmodern Approach (Doehring 2006), Pastoral Care and Counseling: Redefining the Paradigms (Ramsay 2004), and “Pastoral Theological Methodology” in The Dictionary of Pastoral Care and Counseling (Hunter 1990).
One could choose other starting points. Suffering and love are the two I have chosen to focus on here.
See, for example, Lartey’s In Living Color (2003), in which he asserts that love is the motive for pastoral care, or Cooper-White’s Many Voices: Pastoral Psychotherapy in Relational and Theological Perspective (2007) in which she states that human beings are loved by God and “endowed with the capacity to love” (p. 39). See also Stevenson Moessner’s Women in Travail and Transition (1991), in which she uses the story of the Good Samaritan, who follows Jesus’ command to love one’s neighbor, as the model for the practice of pastoral care.
The most well-known is Clinebell’s growth model presented in Basic Types of Pastoral Care and Counseling (1984), though I would argue that Clinebell’s notion of growth owes as much if not more to Rogerian psychology than to Christian concepts of sanctification. Schipani’s The Way of Wisdom in Pastoral Counseling (2003) also moves towards an emphasis on human flourishing. See also McClure’s Moving Beyond Individualism: Reflections on Theory, Theology and Practice (2010).
See, for example, Bidwell’s Short Term Spiritual Guidance: Pastoral Care and Spiritual Direction (2004), or J. Stairs’s Listening for the Soul (2000). Spiritual direction is practiced in a one-to-one relationship between a spiritual director and an individual seeking direction. This practice is a well-developed Roman Catholic tradition and, in recent years, has become more popular among Protestants as well. Spiritual formation in the Protestant tradition has been primary a communal or congregational practice. Pastoral care as well as preaching and education are the primary means through which this communal spiritual formation occurs.
To define the particular role of pastoral care in forming persons for love will also require us to consider the distinctions and overlaps between pastoral care and religious education. While that task is beyond the scope of this paper, I do address this concern in the larger project. My basic premise is that while religious education attends to the ongoing formation of persons in the Christian life, pastoral care attends to this formation at pivotal moments in life. These pivotal moments may be moments of suffering, healing, joy, or sorrow.
See, for example, Bass and Dykstra’s Practicing Our Faith: A Way of Life for Searching People (2010).
While the terms “praxis” and “practice” are not identical, conversations about Christian practices in practical and pastoral theology have been influenced by the recovery of the concepts of practical wisdom and praxis. See Jeanrond (2010) for a further discussion of praxis and practical wisdom.
In the sense that I am using the terms here, both praxis and practice require critical reflection on actual practice, and though technically the meanings are not identical, for the purposes of this discussion I am using them interchangeably.
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Scheib, K.D. Love as a Starting Point for Pastoral Theological Reflection. Pastoral Psychol 63, 705–717 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11089-014-0614-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11089-014-0614-4