The International Council on Pastoral Care and Counseling (ICPCC) met in August 2011 in Rotorua, New Zealand for its 9th International Congress. Various discussions in the field arose from actual challenges, such as the earthquake in Japan, social changes, and, mainly, deprivations all over the world. The ICPCC offers guidelines on how to cope with these situations, which also include the indigenous traditions of the Maori culture, projects on inter-religious encounter, etc. - all of which provoke a rethinking of traditional spirituality. The Congress proceedings are presented in this book as a state of discussion within this globalized network. (Series: Theologie: Forschung und Wissenschaft - Vol. 33)

This concise book, the sixth short guide on process theology and its practical implications by Dr. Bruce Epperly, applies process thought to the calling and activities of pastoral ministry. Short and to the point as are all books in the Topical Line Drives series, this text will provide pastors and others involved in caregiving ministries a new and adventurous way of thinking about and meeting the challenges of their vocation. God is already present in the hospital room and even the funeral home. You have the opportunity to experience the vision of what can happen when we discover that God is always opening up new possibilities, empowering us to partner with God in healing the world, and strengthening us for and comforting us in the difficult times of life. Learn to connect more closely to the divine and the human, to see more clearly, and to participate more completely, as God does. A practical, deeply theological, and challenging guide to the adventure of pastoral care.

What would it mean for Christian counseling and pastoral care to take seriously the idea that God intervenes in the world? In this volume more than twenty of the best pastoral counselors, clinicians, and counselor educators introduce us to the models that they use to integrate the Scriptures and the work of the Holy Spirit into their daily practice.

This open access volume is the first academic book on the controversial issue of including spiritual care in integrated electronic medical records (EMR). Based on an international study group comprising researchers from Europe (The Netherlands, Belgium and Switzerland), the United States, Canada, and Australia, this edited collection provides an overview of different charting practices and experiences in various countries and healthcare contexts. Encompassing case studies and analyses of theological, ethical, legal, healthcare policy, and practical issues, the volume is a groundbreaking reference for future discussion, research, and strategic planning for inter- or multi-faith healthcare chaplains and other spiritual care providers involved in the new field of documenting spiritual care in EMR. Topics explored among the chapters include: Spiritual Care Charting/Documenting/Recording/Assessment Charting Spiritual Care: Psychiatric and Psychotherapeutic Aspects Palliative Chaplain Spiritual Assessment Progress Notes Charting Spiritual Care: Ethical Perspectives Charting Spiritual Care in Digital Health: Analyses and Perspectives Charting Spiritual Care: The Emerging Role of Chaplaincy Records in Global Health Care is an essential resource for researchers in interprofessional spiritual care and healthcare chaplaincy, healthcare chaplains and other spiritual caregivers (nurses, physicians, psychologists, etc.), practical theologians and health ethicists, and church and denominational representatives.

A timely resource treating addiction holistically as both a spiritual and a pathological condition Substance addictions present a unique set of challenges for pastoral care. In this book Sonia Waters weaves together personal stories, research, and theological reflection to offer helpful tools for ministers, counselors, chaplains, and anyone else called to care pastorally for those struggling with addiction. Waters uses the story of the Gerasene demoniac in Mark’s Gospel to reframe addiction as a “soul-sickness” that arises from a legion of individual and social vulnerabilities. She includes pastoral reflections on oppression, the War on Drugs, trauma, guilt, discipleship, and identity. The final chapters focus on practical-care skills that address the challenges of recovery, especially ambivalence and resistance to change.

Tending to the Holy: The Practice of the Presence of God in Ministry invites pastors to embody their deepest beliefs in the routine and surprising tasks of ministry. Inspired by Brother Lawrence's classic text in spirituality, Tending to the Holy integrates the wisdom and practices of the Christian spiritual tradition with the commonplace practices of pastoral ministry. Bruce and Katherine Epperly utilize a variety of spiritual disciplines especially Benedictine, Celtic, Ignatian, Rhineland, and process spiritualities to provide a framework for helping clergy nurture the awareness of God, creative imagination, and personal well-being in every aspect of their ministerial lives. Practicing God's presence in the ordinary tasks of ministry inspires wholeness, spiritual transformation, vision, imagination, endurance, and healthy self-differentiation in ministry. Commitment to joining spiritual practices with the routine and repetitive tasks of ministry provides an important antidote to unhealthy stress, burnout, and loss of vision in ministry. By seeing their congregational leadership in terms of spiritual transformation, imaginative practice, and relational interdependence, ordinary ministerial practices can become ways pastors can deepen their relationship with God. Growing out of their work with pastors at every season of ministry, as well as combined ministerial experience of nearly sixty years, Bruce and Katherine Epperly invite pastoral leaders to complement and expand on their understanding of spiritual leadership, pastoral excellence, and self-care, integrating traditional and contemporary spiritual practices with the concrete arts of ministry.

“Somewhere deep inside each one of us is a burning desire to finally become the person God created us to be.” Do you suffer from spiritual or emotional wounds that are keeping you from reaching that goal? The bestselling book Be Healed is based on retired Catholic therapist Bob Schuchts’s popular program for spiritual, emotional, and physical healing. Incorporating elements of charismatic spirituality and steeped in scripture and the wisdom of the Church, this book offers hope in the healing power of God through the Holy Spirit and the sacraments. Schuchts, founder of the John Paul II Healing Center, sensitively shares his own journey of healing after enduring a series of betrayals in high school—his father’s infidelity, his parents’ divorce, his older brother’s drug addiction—and his subsequent periods of struggle with God and faith. Be Healed includes helpful tools such as charts, tables, lists, reflection questions, and personal challenges to guide you on your journey of healing. Schuchts’s trusted process for finding inner peace and healing is boldly Christ-centered, maintaining focus on the person of Jesus as “the life-giving and ever-present physician of our souls.” Schuchts will help you recognize your brokenness and find your hope and healing in the risen Christ.