The required pastoral care class in my seminary education was more theory than practice. We learned about family systems theory and the Kubler-Ross stages of grief and being a… read more

The following is excerpted from Caring: Six Steps for Effective Pastoral Conversations. Copyright © 2019 Abingdon Press. All rights reserved. Most parishioners value a… read more

Editor's note: The Out of the Depths series addresses common pastoral crises in a faithful, encouraging, and factual manner that provides support to parishioners in… read more

How do you pastor folks in prison? More specifically, what is the primary pastoral care task with incarcerated persons? Before answering, let’s first get a sense of what… read more

About fifteen years ago, I began my work with the 12-step groups that meet in many churches. I had congregants, even teens, ask me to go to meetings with them and others ask me to … read more

The following is excerpted from Words That Heal: Preaching Hope to Wounded Souls by Joni S. Sancken. Copyright © 2019 Abingdon Press. In a small Texas town a man… read more