Unmitigated Agency and Unmitigated Communion: Distinctions from Agency and Communion

The purpose of this paper is to establish the importance of distinguishing unmitigated agency and unmitigated communion from agency and communion. First, we examine the empirical overlap and distinctions among the four constructs. Then, we demonstrate the differential association of unmitigated agency, unmitigated communion, agency, and communion to relationship and health outcomes. We conclude that only unmitigated agency and unmitigated communion are associated with relationship difficulties and poor health. Finally, we distinguish between the difficulties of the unmitigated agency and the unmitigated communion individual by focusing on interpersonal problems.     

Don Quixote as Moral Narcissist: Implications for Mid-Career Male Ministers

This essay uses the figure of Don Quixote to explore the mid-career crisis experienced by many male ministers. It proposes that Don Quixote is less problematic than Don Juan for ethical reasons, but employs psychoanalytic interpretations to reveal the complexity of his self-structure, focusing especially on his moral narcissism, proneness to paranoia and melancholia, and his fictive personality. While evidence of his disordered mind, these diagnoses also testify to his nobility under trying circumstances. Heinz Kohut's concept of the transformation of narcissism is introduced and implications for the future destiny of Don Quixote are drawn. These implications have relevance to the issue of survival in ministry after the effects of the mid-career crisis have been absorbed. Pastoral Theology at     

Church of Scotland Ministers as Representative of the Theological Outlook of Scotland's Clergy

A national survey into the clerical views of the ‘the fall’, ‘Christ's return’, ‘the Day of Judgement’, and access to heaven reveals the extent of theological conservatism among Scotland's ministers. Comparison of the Church of Scotland with the other denominations in Scotland reveals it to be representative in its conservative-progressive theological profile. Regional variations are identified. Ranking of Scotland's denominations is presented in terms of conservatism in theological interpretation. Findings are discussed with particular reference to ecumenical efforts to secure denominational unions and the balance of power within the Church of Scotland.