International Pastoral Care and Counseling – defining our understanding of learning together around the themes “care, context, and community.”
Author: the ELM team
ELM is dedicated to accompanying its partners in being a learning community. One of the ways it has been doing this over the past two years has been through facilitating an exchange on pastoral care and counseling in order that ministers might learn from one another as they respond to the contemporary challenges facing individuals and communities throughout the world.
Care
Pastoral care is a central aspect of ministry for churches worldwide. In its activities, pastoral care focuses on the needs of the other, imitating Jesus’ approach to his earthly ministry. Pastoral care is a unique aspect of church life in that it operates in a confidential, non-public space.
During online meetings in 2022, we noted that demand for pastoral care has increased enormously in light of the coronavirus pandemic, economic uncertainties, and social unrest. We asked ourselves - how can pastoral care and counseling bridge the gap between the search for meaning (values, community, spirituality) and the struggles of physical existence (poverty, grief, death, fear, loneliness, illness, violence), especially when we ourselves are limited in number and in resources?
More specifically, the kinds of questions that might be addressed under the heading “care” are:
- What image(s) of the “human being” (theological anthropology) is used while engaged in pastoral care?
- What strategies are there for expanding our abilities to care when it comes to issues that are difficult (nearly “taboo”) for us?
- What do we as pastoral caregivers expect of our clients, including the question of how inner work translates to change in behavior?
- Which types of problems have universal (or near universal) impact on human life in our time, and what resources does pastoral care and counseling bring to address these problems? (Specific problems, such as gender-based violence, might also be addressed under this heading.)
- How are care of others and self-care related?
- What methods besides individual counseling are effective in pastoral care and counseling?
- Which opportunities do clients have to reach self-actualization and to participate in the shaping of their own future if they are dealing with extreme poverty and/or a lack of freedom in society?
- To what degree are we and our colleagues open to the inclusion of all people (inter-generational, people without church/with other religious commitments, etc.) in the work of pastoral care and counseling? How does this affect the ministry of caregiving?
- How might a wider variety of perspectives and interdisciplinary work increase the effectiveness of our caregiving?
- Is it realistic to develop an expanded concept of pastoral care that would include more than the “minister” and would instead see every person having the capacity to care, especially when supported by increased communication skills and community support?
- How might pastoral care and counseling develop toward (or from) multi-faith, evidence-based spiritual care and psycho-spiritual therapy? How does that relate to a highly interactive approach where everyone is part of a caring community?
The aim of our first, in-person conference is to enhance both the theory and practice of pastoral care and counseling. This is planned through lectures, studying methods for pastoral care, and experiencing pastoral care and counseling in the German context. The conference will focus on how pastoral care can be used both for the inward-facing and outward-facing communities.
The central goal of this exchange is to develop a learning community among pastoral caregivers such that the benefits of their time together will continue into the future through the establishment of collegial relations.
In the interest of meeting that goal, here we have made a broad sketch of what we in ELM as organizers have in mind when we say “care,” “context,” and “community:”
Context
The complexity of church ministry as embedded in a certain context has been a theme in the worldwide church for some time. The church is “not of this world,” but “in and with the world.” (John 17.15-18) “The church cares for the world as its oikos, house or home,” and this includes acknowledging and being engaged with the specific ecological, socio-economic, and cultural realities of that home. In this sense, there is a strong mutual link between building citizenship and Christian ministry. At the same time, we must not forget that any specific context is also part of a web of connections that connects all creatures with one another throughout the world.
When we consider pastoral care in context, will we be confronted with the question of how to imitate Jesus by giving special attention to those whose rights are not acknowledged by society? How might we empower them to participate as agents of transformation in their context so that the values of God’s kingdom might be made incarnate? Paul Tillich pointed out that the church has a distorted vision of pastoral care if it responds only to the needs of individuals without addressing the suffering caused by unjust social systems; how can pastoral care include an assessment of how the client is affected by societal ills, and how might that analysis affect our therapeutic methods? Isn’t it up to the church to strengthen spaces for encounter, community building, (mutual) pastoral care, and a good spirit of connectedness (i.e., spirituality)?
Questions that we might address when thinking about “context” include:
- What tools do I use to analyze the needs of pastoral care and counseling in my context(s)?
- How does my place in society affect my care giving?
- To what extent is the spiritual caregiver also a source of reflection on organizational ethics and /or societal engagement?
- What factors ensure good cooperation between different actors in church and society?
- In what ways can networking/public relations/ opportunities for participation in public service be part of engaging pastoral care in a particular community?
- What factors interior to us as caregivers hinder our engagement in public space? What needs in our context lead us to use new forms of pastoral care and counseling?
- How might pastoral care that is directed toward the needs of certain groups (e.g., people living with certain physical challenges) eventually contribute to the welfare of the whole community (and/or have the capacity to create space for political action)?
- What contribution does pastoral care and counseling make toward congregations being more open to those around them?
- In what way is community development related to pastoral care and counseling? How might it be related to contextual challenges, e.g., food security, environment issues, education, gender issues, etc.?
Community
Community is, of course, very closely related to context. Community is the sharing of common life, “fellowship,” if we use Biblical language. Yet, saying “fellowship” is not enough, insofar as most of us are living and working in environments that include a multi-faith (or lack of faith) component. Our event together will address the question of community (with whom we are working) in light of our discussions about what we are doing (care) and where we are doing it (context). Taken together, our work on the areas of care, context, and community should make for wider and more porous borders between “inside” and “outside.” We might ask:
- How is pastoral care and counseling “mission work” in the sense of being a deliberate tool for reaching out beyond the members of the congregation? How might pastoral care and counseling outside of the church affect the quality of ministry and self-understanding inside the church?
- To what extent are church structures encouraging the ministry of pastoral care and counseling? What strategies might be applied for developing this ministry when church leadership is not supportive?
- Are there opportunities to dissolve the walls that exist between pastoral care ministry, diaconal ministry, and other aspects of church life? How can we avoid “silo mentality,” and what can we do to help develop more holistic systems of care?
- What structures are in place that can build up our skills and abilities as caregivers? What might be done to further build up frameworks for networking, supervision, and training?
- In what way can/do volunteers play a role in pastoral care and counseling?
- What impact will the learning that took place during this seminar have on participants’ respective churches? What can be done to be implement impactful programs for the faith and wider community?
- How could pastoral care and counseling ministries be financed/funded?
Our time together
We envision our international pastoral care and counseling initiative as a program that provides a platform for mutual learning, with ELM’s specific responsibility being primarily in creating an environment where this can take place.
The individuals who will take part in this event will come from many different contexts and have diverse levels of experience and expertise. We believe that this diversity will not hinder our working together but instead will keep the approaches fresh and relevant (i.e., not too academic). We have striven hard in our planning to avoid dominance by any one group (nationality, experience level, male/female, age), and we believe that by consciously seeking ways of sharing power and agency, we will achieve our goal of avoiding an event dominated by traditional power holders.
Goals and learning outcomes
- The event will in all its parts incarnate a common, holistic learning process that provides equal space for all voices that are represented.
- Participants will have space to reflect on all relevant issues from a variety of perspectives.
- Participants will gain new ideas and skills for enhancing their ministry through the exploration of the event’s topics – care, context, and community.
- As people with different cultural backgrounds meet and exchange their experiences, they will provide one another with tools and methods that can be used in different contexts;
- in addition, their skills in the areas of cross-cultural learning and ministry will be enhanced.
- Participating in this event will lead not only to new knowledge, impart skills and encourage action, but through gaining great competency participants will also gain confidence and have a clearer understanding of their personal limitations.
- The learning community among pastoral care providers will be strengthened in such a way that it continues to have impact beyond the time of the event.
Methodology
- participatory
- interdisciplinary
- transparent
- open to complexity and a variety of perspectives
- encouraging of critical thinking
- inciting self-reflection
- present- and future- oriented
- starting with the concrete (e.g., skills or methods) rather than with the general
- creative, suggesting of alternative actions and behavior
- sensitive to structures of discrimination
Desired impacts
- Contributions are made to building theories of intercultural pastoral care and counseling.
- Steps are taken toward the creation of a self-sustaining learning community/ network for the support of pastoral care and counseling ministries
- ELM through this experience (and through follow-ups at 6- and 24-month intervals) will better understand the psychological conditions of group learning; this will help ELM better fulfill its role as a facilitator of learning and apply knowledge gained from the experience to other aspects of its ministry.
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Presentations / workshops / other inputs
Each person will participate not only through discussions but also by taking on a leadership role – in devotional time, through a thematic presentation, or in a lesson on methods relevant to the day’s topic. Each participant will explain how s/he is connected to this theme, and that information will provide relevant context for understanding the speaker’s perspective. It is expected that communication in even given time slot will not be one-way but will be as interactive as possible within the framework of a given task. Many presenters will want to engage listeners personally before providing information; as a rule, there will be a reflection stage (with the option for large or small group discussions or time for individual meditation) and a time when actions are taken and alternative actions are considered. It is possible that speakers will further develop their given theme in the framework of future meetings of the learning community.
ELM will be happy to respond to requests for those tools (technical equipment, etc.) that will be helpful for those presenting. The earlier such requests are made, the more likely it is that we will find a satisfactory solution.
Summary: Expectations of the participants and host
The consultation is an interactive meeting in which all participants are actively involved. Each participant will take part not only through discussions but also by taking up a leadership role.
- Each participant is involved in the planning and the follow-up of the consultation.
- Each participant will prepare:
- a devotion or/and
- a thematic presentation or/and
- a lesson on methods relevant to the day’s topic
- to be active in the discussion how to be connected to this theme
- Presenters and the hosts will actively encourage feedback and evaluation for the good of the learning community.
- The participants are asked to prepare reports to present in their respective churches (and are asked to forward these to ELM);
- Church bodies are informed by ELM in advance to foster these presentations and proactively support and give space for this.
- ELM will document the event. Participants are asked to take part in interviews, prepare short reports, etc. Details will be distributed for discussions at a later date
