Pastoral Care 1: Theological, Spiritual, and Psychological Principles CHM535
The discipline of pastoral care is a field at the intersection of many disciplines, while also inhabiting its own space. This course will introduce students to a method for the practice of intercultural pastoral or spiritual care with individuals and communities. It will examine not only the internal dynamics occurring between the caregiver and care seeker, but also the current cultural, sociopolitical, multifaith, postmodern reality that individuals and communities inhabit, as both elements are necessary for the analysis of the pastoral encounter. Texts for the course put classical models of pastoral care into dialogue with embedded and lived theologies and social analysis. Students will examine caregiving in a variety of settings and will emerge with basic knowledge of holistic processes and models for assessing the mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual state of those needing care and their appropriate responses as ministering persons. Recommended prerequisite: Human Development and Christian Formation.