Clarifying the Roles in Pastoral Care and CounselingPosted by Alvin Smith on September 30th, 2021 Summary: Since there is often confusion and interchanging in the usage of the terms pastoral care and counseling, this article helps to clarify between the two terms in terms of their roles and principles. Pastoral care and counseling are two terms that are often mixed up. They are often interchanged despite them being two different things and having different roles and definitions. This merging arises due to the close interrelation between them and certain aspects that are common to both terms. This has led the terms pastoral care and counseling to be used interchangeably, not only in literature but also in the broader church community. Hence, if you are planning to enroll for a pastoral studies degree online, you should have a clear picture of the two terms and be able to distinguish between the two terms one needs to dive deeper into the definition and roles played within each of the fields. Pastoral studies Pastoral care is a practice that is as old as religion itself and is seen to be a ministry of helping a quite specific character. It deals with issues like troubled people who feel that their trouble involves the basic issues of human existence. The four distinct functions of pastoral care include healing, sustaining, guiding, and reconciling. Let us have a closer look at each one of them.
The revised model of pastoral care, in the pastoral studies online, will include depth counseling, spiritual healing, supportive counseling, crisis counseling, education counseling, short-term decision making, confrontational counseling, and existential counseling. is essential for fulfilling the ancient functions of wealth. Pastoral counseling Counseling can be said to be a part of pastoral care since pastoral care includes two fields, pastoral calling, and pastoral counseling. Pastoral counseling also has the basic assumption same as that of the aim of the church, that is bringing people to Christ and Christian fellowship. If you are preparing for an online pastoral degree, then you should know the general principles of counseling, which include the following.
The conclusion You might have now realized how pastoral care and counseling are closely interrelated and yet different from each other. If you are seeking a master of arts in pastoral studies, you must keep in mind that pastoral care is the overall ministry of the pastor in communicating the gospel to the people in crisis, through healing, sustaining, guiding, and reconciling. Whereas, counseling is a process in which the pastor seeks to help individuals who are in a crisis to achieve maturity in facing the problem through the functions of pastoral care. Resource Box: St. Bernard\'s School of Theology and Ministry is one of the most trusted institutes for learning Christian theology and pastoral studies. It offers master\'s programs, graduate certificate programs, as well as distance learning and online education. Like it? Share it!More by this author |