Spiritual Need Five: Providing Quality Pastoral Care as a Congregation

SUMMARY

Critical to the needs of older adults is the care and nurturing of the feelings and emotions that often offer context for the human spirit. Grounded in the history of pastoral care, this chapter explores an approach to pastoral care that is reflective of the author's study and experience in the parish.     

A Christian for the Christians, a Christian for the Muslims! An Attempt at an Argumentum ad Hominem

Schmidt and Egler's critique of Christianity's exclusivist claimto truth rests on two suppositions: (a) that inter-religiouspastoral care for dying patients requires a respect for theircultural backgrounds which necessitates accepting the equalvalidity of their respective (non-Christian) religions, and(b) that exclusivism is incompatible with the Christian love-of-neighborcommandment. In opposition to this critique, (a) the authors'own "pluralist" understanding of Christianity is refuted ontwo levels. First, it leads to inconsistencies in the authors'own (and very adequate) understanding of pastoral care, especiallywith regard to their notion of intolerance, and second, it isirreconcilable with explicit New and Old Testament claims toabsoluteness. In addition, (b) the authors' understanding ofthe way in which "exclusivism" justifies intolerance and missionaryviolence is shown to rest, first, on a secularized reductionof Christianity, i.e., of Christians' own "religious identity"as well as of the Christian way of "helping those in need,"and second, on a merely theoretical (rather than also practical)view of Christians' commitment to God. As a corollary to thatrefutation, a reconsideration of the truly Christian sourcesof obedience and charity is recommended.     

Psychological ethical climate,leader–member exchange and commitment to superior customer value: influencing salespeople’s unethical intent and sales performance

In today’s competitive environment, salespeople are challenged with creating customer value in an ethical manner while meeting performance goals. Sales supervisors play a critical role in ensuring that this challenge is met. This research examines the roles of psychological ethical climate and leader–member exchange (LMX) in encouraging salespeople’s commitment to providing superior customer value, reducing their unethical intentions and improving sales performance. Results indicate that business-to-business salespeople’s psychological ethical climate perceptions influence their perceived relationship with their sales supervisor (i.e. LMX relationship) as well as their commitment to providing superior customer value. LMX also directly influences commitment to providing superior customer value, which in turn affects salespeople’s unethical intent and quota performance. Theoretical and managerial implications based on the study’s findings are provided, as well as directions for future research.     

Between Imposing One’s Will and Protecting Oneself. Narcissism and the Meaning of Life among Dutch Pastors

In contemporary culture, narcissism is an important and common personality trait. This trait is very significant for the meaning people experience in their lives. This article deals with an inquiry into the relationship between narcissism and the meaning of life among pastors. Narcissism is further specified into several dimensions (centripetal narcissism, centrifugal narcissism, isolation and self-satisfaction) and the significance of these dimensions is examined for two central dimensions of the attribution of meaning (frame of reference and fulfilment). The article discusses the significance of the relationship between narcissism and meaning for the professional performance of pastors. Hessel J. Zondag is lecturer in the psychology of religion at the Theologische Faculteit Tilburg in the Netherlands. His teachings and research interests are psychology of religion, cultural psychology, and pastoral psychology. Currently he conducts research to the functions of narcissism in contemporary culture, especially the effects of narcissism on functioning of pastors. Recent publications have appeared in Pastoral Psychology, Journal of Psychology & Theology, and Review of Religious Research.     

Why We Do What We Do When We Teach Pastoral Theology at United Theological College (UTC), Sydney

This paper seeks to reflect in a narrative way on the pedagogical processes involved in teaching pastoral theology at United Theological College, Sydney. The paper recognizes that the process of learning pastoral theology is a significant part of the content learned in pastoral theology. The learning process in pastoral theology also contributes to (trans)formational learning in those being formed for ministry. The paper seeks to contribute to the community of pastoral theologians by reflecting on the experience of teaching within a particular school.     

"THEISTIC PSYCHOLOGY AND PSYCHOTHERAPY": A THEOLOGICAL AND SCIENTIFIC CRITIQUE

I take the APA publication A Spiritual Strategy for Counseling and Psychotherapy (Richards and Bergin 2005), along with a devoted issue of Journal of Psychology and Theology (Nelson and Slife 2006), as a paradigmatic example of a trend. Other instances include the uncritical use of "Eastern" philosophy in Humanistic and Transpersonal Psychology, almost normative appeal to the "Sacred" within the psychology of spirituality, talk of "God in the brain" within neurological research, the neologism entheogen referring to psychedelic drugs, and calls for new specializations such as neurotheology and theobiology. In response to the legitimate ethical requirements of respect and openness regarding clients' religious worldviews, the trend is to make God an essential component in psychological theory. The argument is that God is active in the universe and especially in human affairs to such an extent that any accurate account of strictly psychological matters, not just a comprehensive, interdisciplinary purview that could include a distinct theological dimension, must include God as an explanatory factor. Less nuanced than standard theological thought about divine intervention—including a range of opinions from supernaturalism, to occasionalism, to providential and deistic naturalism—this trend would blur the epistemological differences between religion and science by appeal to claimed knowledge sources such as inspiration and revelation and thus undermine the achievements of evidence-based science and establish particularistic religious beliefs as standard explanatory accounts. The concern to include a spiritual, in contrast to a religious or theist, dimension in psychological theory is welcome; but elaborated approaches, such as my own and those of Roberto Assagioli, Viktor Frankl, and Ken Wilber, open to varied theological applications, already exist.     

Intent Attributions and Aggression: A Study of Children and their Parents

This research aimed to further clarify the relationship between children's self-reported hostile intent attributions (for ambiguous instrumental or relational provocations) and peer-reported aggression (physical and relational) in 500 fourth-grade children. In addition, we examined whether parents' intent attributions might predict children's intent attributions and aggression. Both parents (mothers and fathers) in 393 families completed intent attribution questionnaires. Results showed, consistent with past research, that boys' instrumental intent attributions were related to physical aggression. Children's relational intent attributions, however, were not associated with relational aggression. Contrary to expectations, most children responded with hostile intent attributions for relational provocations. Finally, in regard to parent-child connections, maternal intent attributions correlated with children's intent attributions whereas paternal intent attributions corresponded with children's relational aggression.     

The effects of attributions of intent and apology on forgiveness: When saying sorry may not help the story

Despite the oft-cited positive effects of an apology on forgiveness, forgiveness does not always follow. In three studies we tested the ironic notion that, following an interpersonal transgression, an apology following an attribution of intent might further hinder, rather than benefit, the forgiveness process. The findings of three studies were systematically replicated and supported our primary prediction that, following attributions of intent, saying sorry does not always lead to forgiveness. When offenders intentionally committed a transgression, forgiveness was less likely following an apology. However, when offenses were unintentional, forgiveness was more likely following an apology. We also showed that these effects were explained by participants’ impression of the transgressor.     

It's Fascinating Research: The Cognition of Verbal Irony

ABSTRACT— Verbal irony is nonliteral language that makes salient a discrepancy between expectations and reality. For researchers who study verbal irony, a critical question is: How do we grasp the meaning of ironic language? The parallel-constraint-satisfaction approach holds promise as an answer to this question. By this account, multiple cues to ironic intent, such as tone of voice, incongruity, and knowledge of the speaker, are processed rapidly and in parallel and this information is coordinated with the utterance itself in order to construct a coherent interpretation that is the best fit for the activated information. Recently, research with individuals who struggle with irony comprehension (typically developing children, individuals with autism-spectrum disorder, individuals with brain injury) has provided new clues about the complex process by which ironic meaning is inferred.     

Pastoral Counseling of Older Adults: Toward a Short-term Integrative Approach

A rapidly aging population with its mental health care needs presents an enormous challenge in the current mental health field. In light of this, pastoral counselors will have an increasingly important role to play in the care of older adults because of their strategic position in the community and their competence in dealing with religious/spiritual issues particularly salient in old age. This article proposes a short-term integrative approach to enable pastoral counselors to effectively and efficiently meet the mental health care needs of the elderly.