An Integrative Educational Strategy for Christian Leaders in a Multifaith World

Abstract. This paper asserts that training Christian leaders for faithful and effective leadership in religious communities, which is responsive to the reality of the diverse religious experiences of this country, requires that they learn the skills of integration, specifically the ability to integrate formation into a community within the context of a multicultural, multifaith world. The process of pastoral theological reflection, a process that seeks to methodically put into conversation the student's experience, social context, and religious tradition, holds promise in a Christian context as a way to accomplish such integration. After discussing the process of pastoral theological reflection, the paper examines a seminary ministerial formation curriculum, based on this integrative process, to discern how it might better engage multifaith realities in its formation of leaders for Christian communities.     

The Sayings of Jesus in Family Guy: A Pastoral Reading of “I Dream of Jesus”

This essay offers a pastoral reading of an episode of the cartoon Family Guy. The episode is titled ??I Dream of Jesus.?? In doing so, I explore six sayings of Jesus in this episode, and I identify nine theological themes that are raised by these sayings. On the basis of this pastoral reading of ??I Dream of Jesus,?? I argue that Family Guy can be used as a source for theological reflection, and I suggest, in closing, that the show might be a practical way for combating biblical and theological illiteracy among youth and young adults. This article also contains a table that can be useful for creating Sunday School or youth group lessons based on this episode. It is worth pointing out that this essay was written for the ??Group for New Directions in Pastoral Theology.?? The ??group?? was formed to celebrate the career of Donald Capps on the occasion of his retirement from Princeton Theological Seminary. The theme for the conference this year was the sayings of Jesus. While the choice of focusing on a contemporary cartoon for such an occasion may seem odd or quirky, the author does so to demonstrate the unique freedom that pastoral theologians enjoy with regard to what Robert Dykstra calls ??the acceptable latitude of inquiry?? in pastoral theology. Another way of putting this is to say that both the Apostle Peter and the animated Peter can serve as resources for theological reflection.     

Conversion Studies,Pastoral Counseling,and Cultural Studies: Engaging and Embracing a New Paradigm

This paper is an invitation to explore ways in which the study of conversion, pastoral counseling, and cultural studies may be mutually enriching. The author will provide a survey of contemporary conversion studies with the goal of encouraging pastoral counselors and psychotherapists to include the study of conversion as an integral part of their agenda. It will also suggest means by which the field of pastoral counseling may be beneficial to conversion scholars during a time when the study of conversion is not only enjoying a rebirth of interest, but also an astonishing transformation of meanings, methods, and paradigms. Since conversion studies, once the province of evangelical Christians and rather specialized scholars in the psychology and sociology of religion, now involve anthropologists, historians, theologians, religious studies researchers, and new approaches to the phenomenon within psychology and sociology have emerged, this paper will explore some of these developments. It is time for pastoral theologians and pastoral counselors to re-engage both the phenomenon and study of conversion. It will also argue for an interdisciplinary approach inclusive of various perspectives, one that focuses on specific domains of research and theoretical critique and refinement.     

Political Dimensions of Pastoral Care in Community Disaster Responses

All caregiving takes place in multiple political contexts and assumes or actually furthers various political agendas, whether acknowledged or not. When strategically incorporated into pastoral and spiritual care, politically responsive actions may enhance the practice of care. When disaster strikes a community, ritual engagement of the larger public context provides a significant opportunity for pastoral caregivers to function as public pastoral theologians and to influence the corporate response to communal challenges. In these circumstances of community vulnerability, pastoral caregivers and communities of faith are positioned to provide spiritual care that combines solace and safety for the victims with guidance and shaping influence on the ritual practices and rhetorical interpretations called upon to assist the community to endure, respond, and heal. This article examines some central political aspects of the pastoral caregiver’s repertoire that might further a stricken community’s ritual and rhetorical resources necessary to sustain life, share loss, reclaim goodness, and rebuild for a strong future. Drawing upon a view of lamentation as a tri-partite process of sharing anguish, interrogating causes, and reinvesting in hope, I suggest how the spiritual and pastoral caregiver may collaboratively participate in a “disaster-response matrix” that organizes corporate responses to catastrophic disaster. This article pays particular attention to macro-, meso-, and micro-level political negotiations necessary to ensure respect for diversity and shared responsibility in creating rituals, memorials, and public narratives at the onset of disaster and in its aftermath over the generations. Illustrations from the experience of religious caregivers at Columbine, Hurricane Katrina, 9/11, Aurora, Newtown, and Boston are presented to guide pastoral engagement of civil society in disruptive times.     

Pastoral theory and practice in the team approach to treatment of scrupulosity as a component of obsessive compulsive disorder

The statistical estimates of the prevalence of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) in the general population have increased dramatically in recent years. "Blasphemous" obsessions and religious compulsions dominate the clinical picture of many sufferers of OCD. Freud proposed that religion might be a contributing factor for many patients with mental illness. He hedged, however, that observation--something that many of his followers have not done. Others have noted the pathoplasticity of strict religious upbringing and images of God as vindictive or otherwise harsh. Only recently--since the 1970s--has much clinical attention been focused on this disorder by the other disciplines within the mental health community. The church, however, is ahead of the curve in diagnosis and treatment of scrupulosity. It has long been a concern for pastoral counselors--particularly pre-Vatican II Roman Catholic priests. Pathological religion influences OCD and pastoral counseling, the author proposes, can contributes to recovery.     

Religious images in dreams

In the tradition of Jung's analytical psychology, specimen dreams are given to illustrate: 1) traditional religious images modified by the personal context; 2) dreams in which material appears that has traditional religious meaning, but not in the conscious religious tradition of the dreamer (archetypal images in dreams); and 3) dreams that seem to carry a numinous religious meaning, but have not been shown to use traditional religious images. An understanding of the possible religious meaning of dreams should be a specialized but necessary aspect of counseling in depth, whether done by secular professionals or by pastoral counselors identified with traditional collective religious organizations.     

The Step Model of Transformative Religious Experiences: A Phenomenological Understanding of Religious Conversions in India

This is a phenomenological study of individual conversion experiences to Christianity from different religious traditions in India. The author has collected 165 accounts of conversion experiences by using maximum variant sampling and multiple methods of data collection. By using grounded theory, the author has generated a step model of transformative religious experiences. The step model incorporates the religious experience in conversion to which the converts attribute great significance. It accommodates both the role of religious practices and social psychological factors in the conversion process. This study also brings to light the hostilities to conversion in a multi-religious context.     

Beyond the Culture War: Managing Sexual Relationships Inside a Congregation of Gay Evangelicals

America??s popular culture war narrative has often portrayed the evangelical community and the gay community as fundamentally oppositional groups whose range of disagreements center around arguments over the morality and nature of homosexuality. Against the backdrop of these arguments, we undertake a qualitative study of a congregation of gay evangelicals, specifically investigating how pastoral leadership attempts to manage sexual relationships amid a congregation that is firmly and self-consciously rooted in both its gay and evangelical identities. We look at the particular goals and ideals that pastoral leadership espouses for sexual relationships, and we explore how these goals and ideals represent, draw from, and potentially help integrate the congregation??s competing cultural identities. We find that pastoral leadership strives for what we are calling a ??blended approach?? to managing sexual relationships??an approach that simultaneously emphasizes traditional evangelical sexual norms (such as commitment, stability, monogamy, and longevity), while allowing these norms to be significantly tempered by a strong recognition of the private and public contexts that have shaped the gay community??s understanding of sexual and relational life. We speculate that this blended approach to managing sexual relationships may be pointing the way toward future developments within some predominantly-heterosexual evangelical congregations.     

Religious Activity and Pastoral Counseling Among Protestant Youth with SED

The past decade has shown a surge of interest in faith-based resources for a variety of social problems. However, these resources have not been systematically studied for children with emotional and behavioral problems. We investigated religious activity and use of pastoral counseling among Protestant youth with serious emotional disorders (SED) (N=464) and examined associated youth and caregiver characteristics. Findings indicate that the majority of SED youth do participate in religious activities, but do not frequently receive pastoral counseling for their problems. Youth with fewer externalizing problems as well as minority youth had an increased likelihood of participation in religious activities, while youth with more psychosocial impairment had an increased likelihood of using pastoral counseling. Implications of this study for research and practice are discussed.     

Prayer,Self‐Examination,and Christian Catechesis in Augustine and Luther

Augustine and Luther are well known for their self‐examinations of religious experience, especially its trials and temptations. Their theologies of prayer offer a distinctive window into this self‐examination because they traverse the juncture between doctrine and practice, thereby addressing both the theological and pastoral concerns on sin and grace at the heart of their discussions of religious experience. While emanating from their personal spiritual lives, their theologies of prayer also are firmly rooted within the corporate context of the church and Christian catechesis.     

Naked in the Public Square

Responding to Rawls?? pleas in Political Liberalism against appeals to comprehensive doctrines, be they religious or metaphysical, I argue that such constraints are inherently illiberal??and unworkable. Rawls deems political proposals inherently coercive and judges everyone in a democracy a participant in governance??thus, in effect, complicit in state coercion. He seeks to limit the sweep of his exclusionary rule to core questions of rights. But in an individualistic and litigious society like ours it proves hard to draw a firm boundary around issues that raise core (constitutional) questions. The standards Rawls proposes seem oppressive in effect, their likeliest yield, a kind of doublethink, encouraging many citizens to cloak their deepest normative concerns in neutered language. I worry about the means by which Rawls?? ??overlapping consensus?? might be attained, and about the exclusion (as metaphysical) of policy proposals in behalf of broadly conceived human goods. I find it suppositious in Rawls to presume the innocence of seemingly secular arguments while placing in the stocks the religious appeals critical to many, along with old and new metaphysical arguments that may seek to bridge the gap between religious and secular appeals.     

Pastoral counselling: an American perspective

While pastoral counselling is a function of pastoral ministry in religious communities, it is also a specialised ministry requiring professional training that extends well beyond a pastoral/ theological education for ministry, as well as beyond the confines of religious communities. This article is an American perspective on Certified Pastoral Counsellors as mental health care providers for individuals, couples, and families, generally on a fee-for-service basis, with many qualifying for reimbursement by private and federal third party payers. It demonstrates that pastoral counselling as practised in the USA is spiritually integrated counselling and psychotherapy, requiring graduate academic and clinical work in these disciplines as well as graduate education in religious studies. It offers an American perspective on this specialised ministry of mental and relational health and discusses its identity and function, methodology, supervision requirements, and the clinical use of religious resources, including a case illustration.     

Religious Education and Pastoral Counseling: The Classical Pentecostal Experience

The paper addresses the subject of religious education and pastoral counseling in the classical Pentecostal church. It argues that Pentecostals can benefit from a merger of religious education and pastoral counseling that leads the student/client to a closer relationship with God.     

Gods and REMS: The implications of recent dream research for the psychology of religion

Throughout history dreams have been primarily the province of religion. People in many cultures have looked to dreams as sources of spiritual insight and divine revelation. The relationship between traditional religious views of dreams and modern psychological views of dreams has long interested psychologists of religion—for dreams are a uniquely fertile subject for comparing religious and psychological understandings of human experience. In recent years there have been many revolutionary discoveries in dream research, discoveries that have taken us far beyond the seminal works of Freud, Jung, and the early sleep laboratory researchers. This essay describes the work of three leading contemporary dream researchers (neurophysiologist J. Allan Hobson, psychologist Stephen LaBerge, and anthropologist Barbara Tedlock) and evaluates the implications of their findings for our understanding of the religious dimensions of dreams. The essay concludes with some reflections on the valuable role of dream study in the psychology of religion. The primary claim is that recent dream research can make important contributions to current psychology of religion discussions about such issues as interdisciplinary inquiry, hermeneutics, the cross-cultural study of religious experience, the cultural and religious context of modern psychology, and the practical concerns of pastoral counselors.This essay is based on a paper presented on November 25 at the 1991 Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Religion, Kansas City, Missouri.     

How Muslim and Non-Muslim Chaplains Serve Muslim Patients? Does the Interfaith Chaplaincy Model have Room for Muslims’ Experiences?

Chaplaincy is typically practiced within the contexts of the Jewish and Christian traditions, and little attention has been paid to the influence of the Islamic perspective of nursing and caring. Therefore, many Muslim patients might not receive appropriate care for their religious and spiritual needs, especially as they relate to daily religious practices and worship, medical ethics, and end-of-life treatment choices. This study examined Muslim and non-Muslim chaplains’ approaches to pastoral care used with Muslim patients in New York City hospitals. The study used in-depth interviews with 33 Muslim and non-Muslim chaplains. The results indicate areas of both convergence and divergence.     

Mevlana Jalāl-ad-Dīn Rumi and Mindfulness

The use of mindfulness-related methods for the treatment of a variety of psychological, somatic and interpersonal problems has increased dramatically in the last decade. Almost all mindfulness-based therapies include the practice of meditation in addition to various cognitive and/or behavioral techniques. The source of inspiration for mindfulness has traditionally been Buddhism, while Islamic thought has not been present in this development despite the similarities in philosophy and a growing need for mental health support among Muslim populations throughout the world. It is in this context that Sufism and especially Rumi??s teachings seem to be promising both in terms of research on consciousness and in terms of culturally sensitive methods of healing. The aim of the present article is to highlight the commonality of mindfulness-based therapies and Rumi??s religious philosophy. Introducing concepts, images and metaphors based on Rumi??s universe can constitute a meaningful alternative to Buddhist-inspired practices in the transcultural clinic, especially in encounters with clients with Muslim background.     

The Abuse of Power: A View of Sexual Misconduct in a Systemic Approach to Pastoral Care

The article explores the dynamics of transference and countertransference in hierarchical relationships which exist between clergy and lay persons, both in the parish setting, as well as in the pastoral counseling relationship. It is of utmost importance that the power differential be consciously acknowledged by pastoral caregivers so that appropriate boundaries can be exercised. All too often it is the negligent, careless, or unconscious disregard for this power dynamic by individuals providing pastoral care that has led to the sexual violations recently surfaced within our religious institutions. Acknowledgement of the imbalance of power, and its consequences for both clergy and parishioner, is essential in a systemic model of pastoral care.     

The Theological Contributions of Bishop K. H. Ting to Christian/Pastoral Counseling

As China enters an era of urbanization and change, mental health issues are increasingly becoming a concern of the Christian church. Pastoral counseling is taking new shape as people of faith respond to those in their midst in need of care. Bishop K. H. Ting, a long-time leader of the Chinese church, has stressed the importance of an indigenous Chinese Christianity. This article is based on an examination of Bishop Ting’s theological writing with the aim of eliciting themes that might be foundational in the construction of inherently Chinese models of pastoral counseling. Based on a survey of his work, six themes emerge with particular importance for pastoral counseling: the Three-Self church, God is Love, the Cosmic Christ, ethical responsibility, theological reconstruction, and religion in society. These themes are explored within their uniquely Chinese context and suggestions for application to the practice of pastoral counseling are discussed. Original publication: Wang, P. (Ed.) (2006). Seeking Truth in Love. Nanjing, China: Nanjing Seminary Press. This essay was originally published in a collection of essays honoring Bishop K. H. Ting on his 90th birthday. Bishop Ting has been the head of the Chinese Protestant church for over five decades and his leadership has profoundly shaped Chinese theology and church life. The purpose of this essay is to explore how his collected theological writings might inform a uniquely Chinese approach to pastoral counseling. This article is published with the permission of the original publisher.     

The legacy of Trinitarian cosmology in the Anthropocene

If our perception and concept of nature changes, also our image of God and our beliefs will change. Since the 1970s theology and religious studies have established a dynamic field of studies of religion and the environment, and a mobilisation of ecotheology has taken place in academic and pastoral theology as well as in the ecumenical movement. Ongoing discourses on climatic change and the Anthropocene are catalysing this development further. This article explores how the interpretation of late antiquity Cappadocian theology in this context can produce constructive insights for a contemporary reconstruction of late modern belief in the Creator and the tension of creation and salvation.