Abortion and Health Care Chaplaincy in Australia

This paper summarizes the results gained from quantitative and qualitative research involving 327 Australian health care chaplains with regard to their involvement in abortion issues within the health care context. The findings indicate that approximately 20% of surveyed chaplains had provided some form of pastoral intervention to patients and/or their families dealing with issues of abortion and that approximately 10% of chaplains had assisted clinical staff with issues concerning abortion. There was found to be no-statistically significant difference with regard to the number of catholic chaplains compared with protestant chaplains or staff chaplains compared with volunteer chaplains involved in abortion issues. Analysis using the WHO Pastoral Intervention codings highlighted a variety of issues encountered by chaplains and the non-judgmental pastoral care used by chaplains when assisting those dealing with abortion. Some implications of this study with respect to patient and clinical staff support are suggested. Dr. Lindsay Carey, M.App.Sc., Ph.D.: National Research Fellow, Australian Health & Welfare Chaplains Association & Faculty Associate, Palliative Care, School of Public Health, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia. Dr. Christopher Newell, AM, Ph.D.: Associate Professor, School of Medicine, University of Tasmania, Hobart, Australia.     

Pastoral Care for the Sick in a Post-Secular Age: An Ignatian Perspective

This pastoral-theology-based reflection on hospital chaplaincy,set within the horizon of the pastoral situation of Germanyin the post-secular (!) age, introduces the perspective of aconsolation-oriented ministry, as this was developed by Ignatiusof Loyola. Such a pastoral care for the sick, as integratedinto the basic offices of the church, presents a gradedmodelfor action: while human accompaniment is offered to all, spiritualministry is restricted, but realized in an ecumenically encompassingsense. Spiritual and ritual care for members of other religions,while these members are to be addressed according to the principleslaid down by Vatican II, is severely limited for reasons ofidentity and alterity. In all cases, however, Christianity ispresented as "therapeutic religion".     

The Discipline and Habit of Theological Reflection

This article describes the process of theological reflection and the necessity of its practice in the formation of pastoral identity and development of ministry. Drawing upon the philosophy of C.S. Peirce, pastoral theology of the past twenty-five years, and the authors' clinical and classroom experiences, the essay illuminates the distinctive work of pastoral care givers that makes them unique in health care settings.     

On the connection between sickness and sin: a commentary.

In response to the articles by Eibach and Groenhut in this issue, I argue that there is a general connection between sickness and the entrance of sin into the world. There are times when there is a causal link between more specific sin and sickness, though often the patient is the one who has been sinned against. Illness can also expose sin in a patient's life. Integrating the reality of illness into the life history of a patient is a significant pastoral care issue and can be done with humility and sensitivity if done in accordance with the teaching of Job and Ecclesiastes. These books argue that "under the sun" or this side of eternity, human beings can't grasp the coherence of life, including the "why" of illness. Rather, God provides His loving presence, through His people as a comfort to those suffering from illness.     

Collaboration between Science and Religious Education teachers in Scottish Secondary schools

The article reports on quantitative research that examines: (1) the current practice in collaboration; and (2) potential for collaboration between Science and Religious Education teachers in a large sample of Scottish secondary schools. The authors adopt and adapt three models (conflict; concordat and consonance) to interrogate the relationship between science and religion (and the perceived relation between these two subjects in schools) (Astley and Francis 2010 Astley, J., and L. J. Francis. 2010. “Promoting Positive Attitudes towards Science and Religion among Sixth-Form Pupils: Dealing with Scientism and Creationism.” British Journal of Religious Education 32 (3): 189–200.10.1080/01416200.2010.498604 [Taylor &; Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]). The findings indicate that there is evidence of limited collaboration and, in a few cases, a dismissive attitude towards collaboration (conflict and concordat and very weak consonance). There is, however, evidence of a genuine aspiration for greater collaboration among many teachers (moving towards a more robust consonance model). The article concludes by discussing a number of key factors that must be realised for this greater collaboration to be enacted.     

Wounds of Dislocation and the Yearning for Home: Re-Imagining Pastoral Theology

This article contributes to current conversations concerning the role pastoral care and theology can play in the renewal of public life.     

Issues in Pastoral Care and Counseling for the Fourth Quarter of Life

Issues and risks for pastoral care and counseling from the perspective of old age (here, ages 75 to 100) include identification of old age as a problem and its association with death in a death-denying culture. Two elements are fundamental: existential experiential deficits between the old and their younger caregivers (e.g., age cohort experiences, health status, gender, culture, privilege, etc.); and boundary issues that push the old, and pastoral care, to the edge of experience, where choices must be made between creativity and negativity (e.g., moving to dependent living, disability, etc.). Loss of doing (versus being) as a viable option is a major edge experience. The resulting sense of emptiness carries with it the potential for a sacramental awareness in which absence of doing becomes an outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace.     

Social Phobia and the Experience of Shame: Childhood Origins and Pastoral Implications

While social phobia is typically diagnosed in adolescence, the roots of social phobia are found in childhood experiences of shame. When shame occurs because of a failure to meet a child’s need this creates a fundamental uncertainty which can become internalized in the form of self-contempt. Emotions such as sadness are sometimes forbidden by caregivers, and the expression of natural sexual drives are sometimes prohibited. Such experiences create shame and may keep the person from feeling emotions and drives because shame has displaced the real emotion. The fractures in early relationships can be restored through the healing presence of another. The pastor has access to persons with social phobia who may not be willing to seek psychiatric care and is in a unique position to bring the resources of the church to bear in the lives of persons with social phobia. To do so, she moves away from the extroverted frame of reference within which the church frequently operates.Philip Browning Helsel, a graduate of Princeton Theological Seminary, serves as a Chaplain Resident in the Clinical Pastoral Education program at Yuma Regional Medical Center in, Yuma, AZ     

A Safe Space for Healing: Boundaries,Power and Vulnerability in Pastoral Care

Abstract

This article is a theological reflection on issues of power and vulnerability in relation to pastoral boundaries. It starts with a reflection on my experience in training ordinands and pastoral carers, and an awareness that mandatory training in safeguarding often seems to focus on regulations and procedures, rather than power dynamics and self-awareness. The article goes on to summarize recent literature relating to pastoral boundaries, before exploring the underlying concepts of power and vulnerability, using theologians such as Moltmann and Bonhoeffer on the vulnerability of God, and the feminist writings of Carter Heyward and Mary Grey on mutuality. It concludes by arguing that boundaries provide a safe space for the delicate balancing of vulnerability, risk and power in the pastoral relationship.     

Listening for Safe Places: Networks of Playing and Chalcedon in Disaster Pastoral Care

Disaster pastoral care operates in diverse contexts, which may challenge clergy responders in ecclesiological meaning‐making of their practices of care. This article argues that pastoral care may be imagined as part of a larger “network” of caring acts understood as a collective, multiple care practice. Such practice reflects deep‐rooted movements described in psychoanalytical theory as playing, and the christological idea of communication of properties. Therein, spiritual “safe places” can be seen to emerge, even in the midst of traumatic events.     

The Performance of Authenticity: Ordination and Profession in Pastoral Care

Quite a few pastors experience a feeling of inauthenticity when performing their duties. Trying to fulfill the wishes and needs of those of the congregation who ask for their help, they feel like an impostor. The discrepancy between act and experience causes a serious problem in identity. However when authenticity is not considered to be an individual experience and a personal dilemma but as a relational characteristic, the concept of play may be usefully engaged to explain the dramaturgical essence of pastoral performance. The success of pastoral performance depends on maintaining the right aesthetical distance in the drama enacted, so that some form of catharsis might be effected. That distance is found in introducing the concept of ordination where the relation between pastor and congregation is concerned, and it is to be found in the concept of profession where pastors perceive and evaluate their own role performance. Both ordination and profession act as distancing devices enabling the pastor to play the right role rightly. Acting as if, the pastor may be experienced as authentic, as a real pastor.     

Mental Health and Spirituality in Later Life: Pastoral Approaches

SUMMARY

This chapter proposes a perspective on providing pastoral care for people at risk of, or who have mental health problems in later life. Two major areas of mental health, depression and dementia are explored, examining their impact on older people and strategies to identify risk in depression, and signs indicating need for pastoral intervention in depression and/or dementia. The work from two studies that examine issues for meaning of people, the first for older people living independently and the second in residential care, form the basis of the material presented in this chapter. It is maintained that pastoral interventions may greatly improve quality of life for these people, their families and carers.¹     

The School Bully: Assessing the Problem, Developing Interventions, and Future Research Directions

A growing concern exists among educators regarding the prevalence and impact of bullying behavior in the public schools. This behavior has serious repercussions for school climate and school safety in general. In addition, strong indicators suggest bullying behavior appears to be a precursor for community violence. Studies indicate that educators are not fully aware of the prevalence or the seriousness of bullying behavior in schools. A need exists to assess systematically the extent to which bullying behavior may be present in a given school. The critical features of several bullying assessment instruments were examined. In response to the growing concern regarding bullying, a large number of programs designed to address bullying are emerging. However, it is recommended that before selecting a program three criteria should be considered: the program (a) is supported by research; (b) is based on sound behavioral principles; and (c) emphasizes teaching prosocial behavior to replace bullying behavior.     

On mediating equity,equality, and self-interest: The role of self-presentation in social exchange

Do individuals conform to various norms of reward allocation not necessarily in response to internal standards but rather, to win approval from relevant others? This study examined the role of self-presentation in mediating equity, equality, and self-interest within reward allocations. It was hypothesized that when others were aware of a subject's behavior, distributions would reflect that person's normative definition of the situation. Subjects allocated a $5.00 payment among themselves and three partners with unequal performance inputs. Informing the experimenter of one's decisions resulted in more equitable divisions, characterizing the employment-productivity relationship between experimenter and subject. When co-workers, defined as peers, were aware of allocations, an equality-based solution was favored. Allocators enhanced their own rewards beyond normative values only when their choices were completely private. Evidence was also found of postdecisional cognitive changes which maintained the belief that one acted justly in giving each partner what he deserved. These findings are consistent with the proposition that individuals maximize their own rewards, defined broadly to include social impression-formation and intrapsychic benefits. Apparently, self-presentational concerns mediate the relative salience of equity, equality, and self-interest in social exhange.     

Gender and Sexuality in the Pastoral Encounter

Abstract

At the ‘Embodied Ministry: Gender, Sexuality and Formation’ conference at which the articles in this special issue were delivered, three people in active ministry in different denominations — United Reformed Church, Metropolitan Community Church and Roman Catholic — were invited to take part in a panel discussion on gender and sexuality in the pastoral encounter. Their remarks were originally delivered in this conversational context. Martin Pendergast chaired this panel discussion.     

From a Distance: Pastoral Care and Theological Education

Abstract. This article is a presentation and discussion of a seminary course on the Corinthian Correspondence. The pedagogical model for this course was structured to parallel the pattern of Paul's pastoral care from a distance as he relates to the Corinthian congregation by personal visits, delegations from and to the congregation, letters from and to the congregation, and unofficial grapevine types of communication. The course was designed for dispersed students to interact with the Corinthian letters, with each other, and with myself as instructor in ways that 1) simulate a first‐century exchange between congregation and apostle and 2) facilitate careful interpretive work on the message of these letters, including their contemporary relevance.     

Detrimental educational practices deemed as culturally acceptable: Adultcentrism and Black Pedagogy in Italian primary schools

Social Psychology of Education - In a complex and systemic view of human development, the educational relationship is conceived as the keystone of development (Pianta, 1999; Pianta, 2001). However,...     

Stewardship Models of Pastoral Care,Counselling and Supervision: The Commonians Meet Ricoeur at Worship

The common factors debate in psychology and, more recently, marriage and family therapy is slow to erupt in pastoral care and counselling. This article introduces the common factors debate into pastoral science by proposing the Stewardship Models of Pastoral Ministry and Supervision. The model integrates common factors research and pastoral practice using Ricoeur’s “economy of the gift” ethic. The model’s focus is pastoral care, counselling and supervision in congregations, a unique community context in search of an adequate pastoral praxis.     

Codependence and Interdependence: Cross-Cultural Reappraisal of Boundaries and Relationality

This article explores the cross-cultural implications of the Western notion of boundaries and the Asian matrix of relationality for pastoral care ministry. Theorists of codependence (relationship addiction) show that American awareness of boundaries produces phobic attitudes toward the interwoven interplay of human relationships. Noting the underlying American cultural ideal (i.e., individual autonomy), evidences that boundaries are culturally defined are reviewed. Drawing upon the social-psychological concept of interdependence (Asian construal of self), the author proposes that there is a need for a different understanding of boundaries, since some Asian people have strikingly different construals of the self, of others, and of the interdependence of the two. Boundaries and relationality need to be in dialogue with each other so as to create relational boundaries that empower mutual relations within which we may come to experience the power of the relational, triune God.