Purves proposes a thoughtful reading of early classical texts to provide insight into contemporary pastoral work.

Leading pastoral theologians explore a wide variety of themes related to pastoral practice. Pastoral Theology and Care: Critical Trajectories in Theory and Practice offers a collection of essays by leading pastoral theologians that represent emerging trajectories in the fields of pastoral theology and care. The topics explored include: qualitative research and ethnography, advances in neuroscience, care across pluralities and intersections in religion and spiritualties, the influence of neoliberal economics in socio-economic vulnerabilities, postcolonial theory and its implications, the intersections of race and religion in caring for black women, and the usefulness of intersectionality for pastoral practice. Each of the essays offers a richly illustrated review of a practice of pastoral care relationally and in the public domain. The contributions to this volume engage seven critical directions emerging in the literature of pastoral theology in the United States and internationally among pastoral and practical theologians. While coverage of these topics does not exhaust important points of activity in the field, it does represent especially promising resources for theory and practice. This important work: Offers unique coverage of new directions in the field Includes contributions from an exceptional group of experts who are noted leaders in their areas of study Introduces the newest perspectives on pastoral care and offers constructive proposals Filled with case illustrations that make chapters pedagogically useful, Pastoral Theology and Care is essential reading for faculty, seminarians and students in advanced degree programs, and pastors.

While many pastoral ministry books focus on the practical duties of the pastor, few works actually consider how theological truth defines the pastor’s role and responsibilities. These pragmatic ministry tools, though instructionally beneficial, essentially divorce biblical doctrine from ministerial practice. As a result, pastors’ lives and ministries often lack the theological roots that provide the stability and nourishment necessary to sustain them. Pastoral Theology constructs a theological framework for pastoral ministry that is biblically derived, historically informed, doctrinally sound, missionally engaged, and contextually relevant. By using traditional theological categories the authors explore the correlation between evangelical doctrine and pastoral practice. Through careful theological integration they formulate a ministry philosophy that defines the pastoral office and determines its corresponding responsibilities in light of theological truth. The authors provide a theological understanding of the pastorate that will equip aspiring pastors to discern and pursue their calling, challenge younger pastors to build on ministerial truth instead of ministerial trends, and inspire seasoned pastors to be reinvigorated in their passion for Christ and his church.

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Through the course of their work with people engaged in ministries of various kinds - spiritual directors, healthcare chaplains, local clergy, theological educators, youth workers, the authors of this groundbreaking book have become convinced of the need to provide a practical guide to the practice of pastoral supervision understood as a core discipline of the Christian church and enriched by the best of what other supervision disciplines have to offer. Each chapter focuses on a different aspect of pastoral supervision, embedding it theologically and offering rooted examples from their own practice. At the end of each chapter practical exercises are offered to help the reader reflect on their own practice and tools are suggested for use with supervision groups and in work with individuals.

A veteran Baptist pastor and ministry professor offers a distinctive free church vision for pastoral leadership, attending to voices from the past four centuries as they speak about the practice of ministry. The book contains theological reflection on current ministry issues among Baptists based on biblical and historical foundations and reflects a diversity of Baptist life across time and around the world, including many different voices. Each chapter contains reflection questions to help readers consider the implications of Baptist thinking.

Multi-cultural and global in design, 'Pastoral Theology from a Global Perspective' brings concrete and applicable resources to Christian leaders around the world who are struggling with problems of pastoral care. This practical, easy-to-use approach to pastoral theology is designed to hone pastoral skills in five central areas: -the role of women in church and society -empowering marginalized peoples -economic justice and ecology -reconciliation and peacemaking -caring for human needs Fifteen case studies, accompanied by teaching notes and commentaries, illustrate the diversity and commonalities of pastoral care in different parts of the world: an ordained Indian woman assigned as an associate pastor is threatened by male church members who say she is not permitted to preach from the pulpit or serve the Eucharist; missionaries to Haiti face critical decisions about supplying chemical fertilizer to a destitute hillside village; a Hispanic community considers illegally occupying a government nature reserve to save their community sheep herd; a Ugandan pastor deals with violence and healing in a community struggling to recover from civil war.

This book introduces feminist perspectives in pastoral theology. It is concerned both with pastoral care and practice and also with pastoral theology and theory. It seeks to explore why the inclusion of women's experiences and of feminist perspectives is of vital importance to Christian pastoral practice and to a Christian understanding of God. The book is designed for concerned practitioners and also has specifically in mind the needs of students of pastoral theology. It begins with the lived experience of violence in Church and society, moving through to the implications of this for our understanding of the human community and the divine.