Ritual and Pastoral Care

by Don S. Browning, Don S. Browning (Editor)

Pastoral counseling can be imbued with a sense of community and of the transcendent; there is no surer way for this to happen than through a vital and self-conscious connection with the worship life of the community. Ritual can resonate to human need, and to this end there is much the ritualist can learn from the psychological insights into human development and personality familiar to those in the field of pastoral care. Drawing on a range of practical concerns and issues in worship life and pastoral care, Elaine Ramshaw shows how ritual can communicate care, and be shaped by care for the individual, society, and the world.

Genres: Christianity

128 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1959

About the author

Don S. Browning was the Alexander Campbell Professor Emeritus of Ethics and the Social Sciences at the Divinity School of the University of Chicago. Trained in theology, he was equally conversant in modern psychology, philosophy, ethics, sociology, and in the last decade of his life, family law. Browning brought Ivory Tower theological theory to earth by bridging the study of religion with fields including psychology and law, and issues such as marriage and family.

One of the architects of Practical Theology, which looks into ways to link theology to law, psychology and pastoral care. The ideas were laid out in one of his most widely known books, "A Fundamental Practical Theology," published in 1991.

In his early work, he sought to bridge theology and psychology in the service of pastoral care around such diverse themes as the atonement, generativity, poverty, personality theory, and the quest for a normative anthropology. Browning is constant in his challenge that religious leaders need to be capable of moral deliberation in the midst of the complex emotional and social dynamics of daily living. His critical observation about pastoral counseling in a parish or congregational setting remains relevant.

Reviews

[Aldon Hynes · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this for a class in seminary on pastoral care taught by the author. It is a good book for thinking about how ritual (and liturgy) can help and perhaps at times get in the way of pastoral care. It helped me develop a keener sense of the importance of rituals, even those not regularly performed.

[David Bjorlin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Though the language of the book is dated, this is a gem with great liturgical and pastoral wisdom throughout.

[Michael Mulberry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent text.

[John Connolly · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a pastor this is a great resource. The book is a bit dated in that some of the concerns Ramshaw raised in the 80's when she wrote this have since been addressed. But, the spirit of what she raised is just as important today. She gave me many things to think about in my own provision of pastoral care.

[Larry Taylor · Rating 2 out of 5]

i know we all engage in ritual and i know ritual is important, and i'm trying to gain an appreciation for more ritual, but, like most rituals, this is a pretty boring book.