Kate Bradford
Jan 2016
Jan 2016
Pastoral images of shepherding abound in
the Old and New Testaments. The agrarian pictures recall both Israel’s origins
and rich metaphors of God’s care for the people of God. The shepherd image provides
a godly model for leadership for both Israel and the Church.
Pastoral terms and images occur in much
chaplaincy literature, as they were closely tied to the modern mid-20th century
discipline of Pastoral Theology. This new discipline leveraged terminology that
dates back to early church.
Early Church Fathers, Gregory of Nazianzus
[d. 390], John Chrysostom [d. 407] and Gregory the Great [d. 604] all wrote on
pastoral theology. Gregory the Great linked the role of a pastor to his Pastoral Rule, a book of pastoral
instruction. In the 17th century, Richard Baxter also wrote extensively
on the pastoral role of a minister. Essentially pastoral care linked the role
of pastor to the care of his ‘flock’, reflecting scriptural usage inseparably
linked with Jesus Christ, the ultimate shepherd, who laid down his life for the
sheep.
In the mid-20th century,
pastoral theologian, Seward Hiltner, applied ‘new’ academic rigor to pastoral theology
and combined pastoral theology with insights from the secular, social sciences.
Hiltner focused on the ‘care’ aspect of ministry. However at the same time, he
radically reinterpreted the shepherding imagery. Hiltner severed the image from
its Biblical moorings and uncoupled the term ‘pastoral’ from the role ‘pastor’
and its lynchpin connection to Jesus Christ.
Hiltner proposed a new functional or
operational approach, which owed more to William James’ functional psychology and
pragmatic philosophy combined with Carl Rogers’ nondirective counselling
approach than to Holy Scripture.
Shepherding motifs were co-opted
tangentially to support attitudes such as concern, acceptance, clarification,
judgement, humility and self-understanding,[i] while the deep eternal images of the consolation
of Israel and Messianic hope were ignored completely. Alistair Campbell writes,
“We are forced to conclude that in Hiltner, the [shepherding] image is little
more than a cipher which gives religious appearance to statements about care
derived from quite other sources…”[ii]
Hiltner has described three pastoral
functions: healing, guiding and sustaining. Following Hiltner, pastoral theologians William Clebsch
and Charles Jaekle added a function of reconciliation;
Howard Clinebell, nurturing; and Andrew
Lester added liberation.
Lester summarises pastoral functions in
this way: ‘When people are wounded or hurt they need the pastoral function of
healing. When they are confused or perplexed they need the pastoral function of
guidance; when they are overwhelmed or stretched to the limit, they need to be
sustained or held emotionally; when they are alienated or separated, they need
to be reconciled. When they are feeling stuck or trapped they need to be
liberated.’[iii]
‘Functions of Pastoral Care’ became the
founding paradigm on which was built all further discussion of pastoral care
Later pastoral theologians worked within
the inherited language. Some endeavoured to ‘back fill’ terms with very tenuous
links to scripture ─ continuing to prop up an entire discipline tethered to a
theological façade that lacked substance.
Any evangelical theology of chaplaincy will
have ongoing difficulties while trying to formulate a theology of Pastoral Care
working within the existing categories. There is a radical disconnect, or more
substantially ─ an incommensurability of paradigms ─ whereby theology and
pastoral care are unable to talk because they exist in different worlds built
on different philosophical assumptions, divergent language, and conflicting approaches
and appeals to Scripture.
The pragmatic language of function presents
an idea of ministry that identifies a specific problem and applies an
appropriate lever to alleviate the situation. Scripture, on the other hand,
describes ‘ministry’, or ‘service’, in terms of loving relationships with God,
fellow believers, friends, family, neighbours, strangers and even enemies. Relationship
with God and others is not imagined in transactional language of
functionalities, or operational instructions in a social theory manual but in
terms of grace, patience, forgiveness, repentance, forbearance and love.
However, perhaps the greatest disconnect lies
in the heavily freighted language used for the functions of pastoral care;
sustaining, healing, guiding, reconciling and liberating. In Scripture each of
these terms describes an activity of God himself. They are not primarily activities
of God’s people.
Pastoral carers and sufferers alike are
recipients of God’s generous gifts: sustenance, health, guidance,
reconciliation and liberation offered through the death and resurrection of his
Son.
The pastoral-function language has annexed
terms inexorably linked with the creative and redemptive purposes of God.
Pastoral theologian Andrew Purves comments
that the shepherding images as currently used are at best imitation of Christ
but fall short of participation in Christ. Purves draws attention to the urgent
need of recovering Christ in Pastoral Theology by centring Pastoral Theology on
the doctrine of Christ.[iv]
Pastoral theologian Deborah van Deusen
Hunsinger, interacting with the work of Andrew Purves, proposes a way forward
and a new language in her book, ‘Pray without Ceasing: Revitalising Pastoral Care’.
Van Deusen Hunsinger outlines a compassionate, thoughtful and Christ-centred
ministry that pays close attention to God, to others and to self. She
encourages ministry that is exercised through the prayerful activities of
lament, intercession, confession, petition and thanksgiving.[i]
[i] Alistair V. Campbell “The Courageous Shepherd”1981 pp 58. In Images
of Pastoral Care: Classic Readings, edited by Robert C Dykstra, Chalice Press
2005,
[ii] Campbell pp 58,59.
[iii] Andrew D. Lester; “Hope in Pastoral care and Counselling” 1995. Pp
1.
[iv] Andrew Purves,
Reconstructing Pastoral Theology: A Christological Foundation, WJKP, 2004 pg
xxx.
[v] Deborah van Deusen Hunsinger, ‘Pray without Ceasing: Revitalising
Pastoral Care.’ Eeardmans, 2007.
