An Introduction to Pastoral Care
By Charles V. Gerkin
June 17, 2010
© Tom Arthur
Rating: 7 out of 10
What comes to mind when you think of pastoral care? What comes to my mind is something like a Christian version of psychology. This image in my mind is heavily influenced by my psychology major in undergrad. I think of pastoral care as sitting down with people in my office talking about their various problems and giving helpful guidance for resolving those problems in biblically appropriate ways. After reading Gerkin’s book, I’ve come to see how small my imagination was for what constitutes pastoral care.
I picked up Gerkin’s book while back at Duke several months ago. I didn’t take a pastoral care class while there (I had a psychology major after all), so I was looking to read whatever texts were assigned by the pastoral care professors at Duke. What I expected to get from this introductory book was something of a manual for how to deal with various issues people might bring me. This fit with my image of pastoral care that I described above. What I got instead was something much different.
Gerkin begins his book with a history of pastoral care. Now we’re talking! I love history, so Gerkin had my attention from the start. A history of pastoral care is instructive primarily as a means of inducing humility. When I read back over how Christians have thought about a subject over the course of time and how some of those ways of thinking seem so time-bound and influenced by the cultural context rather than the Bible, it reminds me that I too might be just so wrong myself. I too might not quite have it all figured out. I too might be more influenced by my current cultural context than I am even aware of. Gerkin’s approach began by humbling me.
Gerkin takes this historical view of pastoral care and provides a kind of integration of the best of all that has come before us in the form of a care quadrilateral. There are four sides to this quadrilateral. First, pastoral care is care of individuals and families. This is what I expected of pastoral care, but Gerkin continues his quadrilateral. Second, pastoral care is care of the tradition that shapes Christian identity. Third, pastoral care is care of the cultural context. Fourth, pastoral care is the care of the community of Christians. He summarizes this perspective saying, “The primary basis of care which the Christian community and its pastors offer to persons is the care that comes about by participation in the Christian community and its world of interpreted meanings” (19).
Wow! That’s a big vision of pastoral care. Yes, it has to do with sitting and talking, praying, counseling individuals and families, but pastoral care is so much more. It has to do with remaining faithful to the Christian faith as it has been passed down over 2000 years. It has to do with speaking prophetically to the culture around us that is not caring for those on the fringes. Pastoral care is then set primarily in the practices of participation in the Christian community, the church, and God’s narrative or story that we find ourselves in. In other words worship, small groups, missions, and every aspect of ministry in the church is pastoral care. In fact, the methods of ministry in the church are the primary means of pastoral care. I practice pastoral care by crafting a sermon. I practice pastoral care by presiding over the communion table and retelling the story of God’s salvation. I and we practice pastoral care by leading a small group. We practice pastoral care by singing together. Pastoral care is all the practices of participation in the church and God’s story. Now that’s a big vision for pastoral care.
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