Christian Pastoral Care as Spiritual Formation: A Holistic Model for Congregational Ministry

Abstract

In the twentieth century and into the present one, scholars working in the field of Christian pastoral care have concentrated their efforts in both well-established and emerging areas. Traditionally, thinking about pastoral care has been oriented to the person suffering from an existential, developmental, spiritual, or moral crisis (or a combination of these). With the emergence of the psychotherapeutic psychology of Freud, Jung, Erikson, Kohut, Berne, Perls, and others, a new focus on pastoral psychotherapy emerged. Taking things in a very different direction, a host of pastoral theologians issued a call to not only care for the individual, but also for the socio-political world that is oppressive and exclusionary for many. Still others promoted pastoral care and counseling as a ministry of the Christian Church. Finally, those animated by the ancient tradition of cura animarum accented pastoral care as spiritual formation. It is to these latter two themes that this article is addressed. What is proposed is a practical prompt card approach to spiritual formation in the congregation that is holistic and runs in the first instance over six to eight weeks. The four areas covered are spiritual practices, spiritual character (fruits of the Spirit), moral character, and positive psychology.

Keywords

• pastoral care
• spiritual formation
• positive psychology
• moral character
• soul care
• spirituality and pastoral care