Advanced Pastoral Care and Practice

This pass/fail course builds on the Boundaries & Bridges course and is designed to expand students’ mastery of the practices essential to effective and ethical pastoral care. It requires attendance at weekly Zoom classes on Thursdays for 8 weeks, and a commitment to spend approximately 10 hours per week outside of class completing readings and assignments.
The primary focus of this course is to provide students with opportunities to learn and demonstrate their ability to:
• understand and embody the principles of bringing themselves to ministry with skill, authenticity and integrity (i.e., competent use of self)
• articulate a pastoral image of themselves that is lived out in their pastoral functioning
• prepare to
o skillfully engage in a range of pastoral skills essential to providing pastoral care to diverse populations
o competently and accurately assess the strengths and needs of those they are serving pastorally
o integrate their conceptual in-class learning with the practice of pastoral care in the field education placement
The overarching goal of this course is for each student to gain the requisite skills involved in becoming a person who values and has the ability to offer sensitive and effective pastoral care, is committed to the ongoing task of developing their capacity for ethical thinking, and consistently behaves with authenticity and integrity.
The in-class component of this course involves a combination of theoretical/conceptual learning as well as role-played and experiential exercises designed to assist in the acquisition of skill. The class format is comprised of discussions of readings, short lectures with an emphasis on dialogue and discussion, experiential learning events, and the practice and demonstration of component skills.