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The Sixth Love Language by G. Wade Rowatt, Ph. D. |
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Tuesday, 19 May 2009 12:40 |
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 The Five Love Languages described by Gary Chapman have dazzled talk show hosts, mesmerized married couples, refocused parents, and even redefined how many counselors approach family conflict. The theory goes something like this. We all like to be affirmed, supported, and loved. We primarily get this from our close relationships; but we like different things. We each have a preferred way (language) to be loved. A person gets frustrated, upset, and hurt when this love does not come in the ways expected. Each person expresses love in the mode that they would like to receive love. You recall the five. They are words of affirmation, quality time, receiving gifts, acts of service, and physical touch. You can go to the numerous web sites for more on each of these five.
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Just In Time Learning by Chris Hammon, D.Min. |
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Written by A. Christopher Hammon, D.Min.
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Monday, 18 May 2009 00:00 |
 It used to be that the professional training we received during the schooling period of our lives when we acquired the initial degrees that credentialed us to do what we do was considered adequate preparation for a lifetime of work with just a bit of annual continuing education to bring us up to date. This approach of banking learning for future use worked once upon a time, sort of. But those days are gone.
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Psalm 20: Help, by Anne Ogden |
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Written by Anne Ogden
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Thursday, 30 April 2009 00:00 |
 May the Lord answer you in the day of trouble,*
the Name of the God of Jacob defend you;
Send you help from his holy place*
and strengthen you out of Zion.
Psalm 20
On a daily basis, help comes from somewhere. I need help getting through the impenetrable and weighty papers on my desk. I need help freeing myself from self absorption and doubt. I need inspiration and a sense of direction. I am on a journey that reminds me every day that I am not immortal, that I could go out of remission at any moment, that life is amazing and incredible, so miraculous that I can’t waste a minute of it. I need help finding my internal power, my creativity, my fearlessness, my fierceness, my vulnerability, compassion. I need help allowing mystery to unfold within me, startling me into recognizing the guidance and wisdom of the occurrences—chance occurrences—and images that visit me.
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Divine Absence: Bleeding Heart Square by Andrew Taylor; Reviewed by Jan Waples, M.Div., B.C.C. |
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Written by Jan Waples, M.Div., B.C.C.
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Tuesday, 14 April 2009 12:35 |
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 This is an intense, tightly-wound mystery novel set in 1930s London, with a backdrop of the rise of the homegrown English Fascist movement. Andrew Taylor is an abundantly gifted English writer who is (fortunately for readers!) quite prolific, and has authored a pageful of titles on his "also written by" page...all of which this reader wants to order immediately! He composes intriguing metaphorical labyrinths which pull the reader in. One feels present with the characters; one nearly chokes on the smoke at the pub; one is sometimes as frightened as the very actors in this drama.
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What’s Pastoral About Pastoral Counseling? |
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Written by Loren L. Townsend, Ph.D
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Friday, 03 April 2009 00:00 |
 Over the past thirty years I have focused on one expression of ministry—pastoral counseling. If you had asked me in 1979 what pastoral counseling was, I would have had a swift and certain answer. Historically, pastoral counseling was what clergy did with folk in their congregation. By the mid-twentieth century this had expanded to mean the counseling provided by specialized clergy who had extensive training in psychotherapy. These ministers were set aside by their denominations as counseling specialists to provide more intense therapy than parish pastors were prepared to offer. Certification for this specialty required an M.Div., ordination, at least three years of service in a congregation, and several years of clinical training. Sometimes pastoral counselors served as church staff members. Often they worked in pastoral counseling centers funded by a group of churches committed to caring for people suffering from emotional, behavioral, or family problems. This specialty was justified on three grounds: It reflected the image of Jesus the good shepherd who engaged people at the point of their deepest need; it expressed a long-standing Christian tradition that the church should be an active agent of healing and guiding; and it embodied a contemporary Protestant ethic that cultural innovation--like psychotherapy—can be applied critically to religious life. By 1990, this was a near-universal narrative for pastoral counseling.
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Consider the World, Care for the Children by M. Wayne Clark, D.Min. |
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Written by M. Wayne Clark, D.Min.
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Wednesday, 01 April 2009 00:00 |
. . . the vision of the world relieved of our burden, with its flora and fauna blossoming wildly and wonderfully in every direction, is initially seductive. Yet, it’s quickly followed by a stab of bereavement over the loss of all the wonder that humans have wrought amid our harm and excess. If that most wondrous of all human creation – a child – is never more to roll and play on the green Earth, then what really would be left of us? What of our spirit might be truly immortal? (Wiseman, 2007, 244)
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Transitioning into the Digital Age by Chris Hammon, D.Min. |
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Written by A. Christopher Hammon, D.Min.
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Monday, 30 March 2009 00:00 |
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 As we move deeper into our journey as pastoral leaders in the digital age, let’s start by looking at some of the transitions we are encountering in terms of the ways that we work, learn, and socialize.
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The Virtue of Patience in Utilizing Conflict by David Sawyer, Ph.D. |
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Written by David Sawyer
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Monday, 23 March 2009 00:00 |
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 The group was discussing the “Old Hickory” case from my book (Hope in Conflict, Pilgrim, 2007, chapter 5) in which the interim pastor, Walt, had learned of allegations of sexual misconduct against a beloved former pastor. In the case, Walt had declined to pursue the allegations for at least three reasons: the denominational officers were not going to bring charges, the congregation was resolutely refusing to discuss any of the “public secrets” about previous pastors’ boundary violations despite Walt’s efforts to provide opportunities for conversation, and the former pastor in question was still present and was perceived to be powerful and potentially untrustworthy.
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All the matriarchs in my family that lived beyond 70 have spent their final years with probable Alzheimer’s disease or related dementia. As my mother moves closer to the age when her own mother began her decline with Alzheimer’s our conversations about our prospective futures that include the potential for living with dementia become increasingly frequent, although not necessarily infused with despair. Instead, we try to focus on the new selves that emerge with dementia and embrace strategies in which we can humanize a disease that many claim as a “social death” for sufferers. We explore how we were changed by our relationships with our loved ones with dementia and honor the relationships that were revised as a result of dementia. To have these difficult conversations, we are required to view dementia with humanity and confront our own fears and cultural obsessions.
