Random thoughts on pastoral care. Every person derives the meaning of their lives from relationships with specific people, faith, work, leisure, family, an unfinished task or a discipline such as science, politics, drama or the visual arts to name only a few. These are spiritual resources that give meaning to the patient's life. Meaning usually refers to how the patient made a large or small difference in the life of others or in the world at large. When a person falls ill or is dying, these meaning making relationships or activities are lost or have become distant or strained, creating a crisis in the meaning of the life of the patient. It is the task of a chaplain or a pastoral care giver to encourage the ill or dying patient to discover or rediscover those sources of meaning that have been lost or from which the patient feels distant. These sources may be family relationships, life events, unfinished tasks, spiritual practices, real or unfinished work related tasks, or real objects in the patient's life from which the patient derives meaning. When a pastoral care giver or chaplain enters a patient's room, after following infection control protocols, the chaplain carefully listens to what the patient says about why the patient is in the hospital, what resources of meaning are available or not available and how the patient can reestablish those relationships while in hospital. The chaplain may derive spiritual interventions such as prayer, meditation, ritual objects, encouraging visits by important people in the patient's life, engaging in life review with the patient or simply encouraging hospital staff to be in contact with the patient who may feel left alone. This is the task of pastoral or spiritual care givers.

Because their work focuses primarily on the fields of theology and psychology, pastoral caregivers have often neglected to take into account the social forces that affect both the careseeker and the caregiver. In this groundbreaking book, sociologist and chaplain George Furniss introduces them to a third discipline, sociology, to draw upon in their work. Furniss offers an introduction to sociological approaches that are particularly relevant to those in the field. Brief biographical notes about key figures in sociology and a glossary of terms are supplied to assist those who lack extensive background in sociology.

Table of contents: Spiritual assessment / Elizabeth Johnston Taylor Spiritual care intervention / Rev. Pamela Baird Cultural considerations in palliative care / Polly Mazanec and Joan T. Panke Meaning in illness / Tami Borneman and Katherine Brown-Saltzman The meaning of hope in the dying / Valerie T. Cotter and Anessa M. Foxwell.

A compassionate, shame-free guide for your darkest days “A one-of-a-kind book . . . to read for yourself or give to a struggling friend or loved one without the fear that depression and suicidal thoughts will be minimized, medicalized or over-spiritualized.”—Kay Warren, cofounder of Saddleback Church What happens when loving Jesus doesn’t cure you of depression, anxiety, or suicidal thoughts? You might be crushed by shame over your mental illness, only to be told by well-meaning Christians to “choose joy” and “pray more.” So you beg God to take away the pain, but nothing eases the ache inside. As darkness lingers and color drains from your world, you’re left wondering if God has abandoned you. You just want a way out. But there’s hope. In I Love Jesus, But I Want to Die, Sarah J. Robinson offers a healthy, practical, and shame-free guide for Christians struggling with mental illness. With unflinching honesty, Sarah shares her story of battling depression and fighting to stay alive despite toxic theology that made her afraid to seek help outside the church. Pairing her own story with scriptural insights, mental health research, and simple practices, Sarah helps you reconnect with the God who is present in our deepest anguish and discover that you are worth everything it takes to get better. Beautifully written and full of hard-won wisdom, I Love Jesus, But I Want to Die offers a path toward a rich, hope-filled life in Christ, even when healing doesn’t look like what you expect.

All disciples of Jesus Christ are called to care for one another whether they have a formal role or not, and exercise pastoral care by listening, encouraging, comforting, offering practical help, praying. In times of crisis and in everyday life, good pastoral care people feel known and loved by God, and valued in the church. This short, yet comprehensive guide lays a biblical foundation for good pastoral care, offers a theological approach to understanding people, considers the particular needs of the sick, children and families, and those in difficult circumstances, and outlines the boundaries within which all can be safe. Throughout, examples and questions for reflection will deepen understanding and enrich practice.

Basic Types of Pastoral Care and Counseling remains the standard in pastoral care and counseling. This third edition is enlarged and revised with updated resources, methods, exercises, and illustrations from actual counseling sessions. This book will help readers be sensitive to cultural diversity, ethical issues, and power dynamics as they practice holistic, growth-oriented pastoral care and counseling in the parish.

This anthology is about caring for all persons as a part of the revolutionary struggle against colonialism in its many forms. In recognition of the varied ways in which different forms of oppression, injustice, and violence in the world today are traceable to the legacy and continuing effects of colonialism, various authors have contributed to the volume from diverse backgrounds including differing ethnic identities, religious and cultural traditions, gender and sexual orientations, as well as communal and personal realities. As a postcolonial critique of spiritual care, it highlights the plurality of voices and concerns that have been overlooked or obscured because of the politics of race, religion, sexuality, nationalism, and other structures of power that have shaped what discursive spiritual care entails today. Postcolonial Images of Spiritual Care presents voices of practical and pastoral theologians, academics, spiritual care providers, religious leaders, students, and activists working to provide greater intercultural spiritual care and awareness in the areas of healthcare, community work, and education. The volume, as such, expands the discourse of spiritual care and participates in the ongoing paradigm shifts in the field of pastoral and practical theology.