AIZAWL THEOLOGICAL COLLEGE

BACHELOR OF DIVINITY 2ND YEAR

assignment on
Principles and Practises of Pastoral Care & Counselling

Topic :Scope and limitations of Pastoral Care

Submitted to :Rev. Dr K.M. Vanlalpeka
Submitted by :Amosa C. Lalbiaktluanga, Roll no. 5, BD-II

1. INTRODUCTION
Human beings need each other for support and growth. Pastoral care is the
care of the ministers of Christ, which is similar to how Jesus cared and taught his
disciples to show compassion for others. We shall look into Pastoral care, its scope
and the limitations which it may have.
2. PASTORAL CARE
The word pastor means, a minister who is in-charge of a Christian church or
congregation. The word “pastor” derives from Latin noun pastor meaning
“shepherded”, derived from the verb pascere – “to lead to pasture, set to grazing,
cause to eat”.1 Pastoral care is that aspect of the ministry of the Church which is
concerned with the wellbeing of individuals and of communities. It is not to be
confused with pastoral counselling, pastoral theology, or practical theology; which
may be its counterparts.2 Pastoral care, if carried out well, responds to other persons
in a way that takes them seriously at two levels, in the least. The first is the level of
who they believe themselves to be and the value which that belief attaches to them.
The second level, is that we care for persons in terms of who we believe them to be
according to out theological understanding and the regard in which they are held
according to that belief.3 Pastoral care is a need which people need throughout their
lives.

3. SCOPE OF PASTORAL CARE

Clebsch and Jaekle (1967) in their study of pastoral care through the ages,
have identified four main pastoral functions – healing, guiding, sustaining and
reconciling. They gave suggested that pastoral care gains its distinctive quality by
being offered by ‘representative Christian persons’ and by dealing with problems
‘within the context of ultimate meanings and concerns’.

3.1. Healing: Healing means the process of making or becoming sound or healthy
again. Healing helps a person to restore the previous stage before sickness. A
healthy and positive attitude towards life will help them to face life situations. 4
1
Daniel Burnabass, ed., A Text book on Pastoral Care & Counselling (Delhi: Christian World Imprints, 2021),
39.
2
Alastair V. Campbell, ed., A Dictionary of Pastoral Care (London: SPCK, 1995), 188.
3
William V. Arnold, Introduction to Pastoral Care (Philadelphia: The Westminster Press, 1982), 15.
4
Daniel Burnabass, ed., A Text book on Pastoral Care & Counselling (Delhi: Christian World Imprints, 2021),
35.
 Christ enjoined(instruct) his disciples to preach the Kingdom and heal the sick
(Luke 9:1-2); the Church continued the work in which its members had been
instructed. “Anointed with oil” (Mark 6:13: Jas 5:14) may well have been a
simple medical, remedy, applied with prayer. 5 Healing can be of the physical
sense but also in form of spiritual and mental sense as well. People can get
comfort through the presence, words and activities of the pastor as through the
pastor, the people can be in peace through the divine presence of God.6

3.2. Guiding: It is “assisting perplexed7 persons to make confident choices

between alternative courses of thought and action, when such choices are
viewed as affecting the present and future state of the soul”. 8 In the recent
past, the most prominent mode of pastoral care has been that of guidance,
most often understood in terms of the psychotherapeutic paradigm. Healing,
sustaining, and reconciling, while present in such pastoral activities as grief
ministry, care for the chronically ill, and family counselling, have largely been
structured in the mode of guidance, most often understood in terms of the
psychotherapeutic paradigm. The role of interpretive guidance is that it relates
to facilitating the dialogical process between life stories and the Christian
story of how life is to be lived. If a person is going through a route away from
God, they need guidance to come back to the right path and lead a meaningful
and holy life.9

3.3. Sustaining: It is ongoing pastoral care and support. It is helping a hurting

person to endure and to transcend a circumstance in which restoration to his
former condition or recuperation from his malady is either impossible or so
remote as to seem improbable.10 Sickness confronts us with an experience of
dis-ease, for the wholeness of life has been disrupted. A sick person inevitably
feels frustrated not only as a result of physical, mental or emotional disability,
but also because of a sense of loneliness and apartness. The housebound and
chronically sick need a sustaining ministry, and one of the prime takes of
pastoral care is to offer companionship, with regular calls to help keep the
parishioner in contact with as much Normal life and affairs as possible. The
mentally ill need to be nurtured, motivated and guided with in an atmosphere
of trust and goodwill, and nothing helps to reintegrate a disturbed personality
more than acceptance and an assurance of an on-going relationship. 11 People
need sustaining for their faith in all situations, a good pastor can find out the
5
Alastair V. Campbell, ed., A Dictionary of Pastoral Care ..., 106.
6
Daniel Burnabass, ed., A Text book on Pastoral Care & Counselling (Delhi: Christian World Imprints, 2021),
37.
7
puzzled, feeling complicated or confusing.
8
Daniel Burnabass, ed., A Text book on Pastoral Care & Counselling (Delhi: Christian World Imprints, 2021),
38.
9
Charles V. Gerkin, An Introduction to Pastoral Care (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1997), 114.
10
Daniel Burnabass, ed., A Text book on Pastoral Care & Counselling (Delhi: Christian World Imprints, 2021),
38.
11
Alastair V. Campbell, ed., A Dictionary of Pastoral Care ..., 274.
 potentialities within the person and members of the congregation and
encourage them to use it for the growth of both the personal and community.

3.4. Reconciling: It is “seeking to re-establish broken relationships between man

and fellow man and between man and God.” It means to help alienated
persons to establish or renew proper and fruitful relationships with God and
neighbours.12 Closing the gap or rift between people or one another does not
necessarily require Justice to be satisfied; forgiveness or forgiving mercy can
and often does enable reconciliation to happen in circumstances where justice
cannot be done, either because the offender does not possess that of which
forfeiture would or could be just, or because no one can say what justice might
consist of in the case in question. It might be thought that the importance of
forgiveness in the prime case of New Testament reconciliation, namely God’s
loving acceptance of sinners, would make this point inescapably.
The reconciliation which God effects in Christ involves the kindling of
love (2 Cor 5:14) and the peace of God’s rule which the blessed peacemaker
brings is more than the absence of hostility. Mere absence of animosity to, or
resigned acceptance of, another is not therefore a sufficient aim of the
reconciler.

4. LIMITATIONS OF PASTORAL CARE

The high aims of pastoral care for human well-beings must be qualified by an
awareness of its limits. The pastoral ministry of Christians is carried out in a
complex world in which numerous agencies are operating for good and for ill. A
confidence in the omni-competence of pastoral care must be avoided. Often those
offering pastoral care will feel wholly lacking in the knowledge, leadership and
courage of the shepherd, knowing more of Good Friday than Easter Day, feeling
themselves to be wounded healers, more vulnerable than victorious of no account in
the company of the successful and self-confident, knowing only the unpopular, and
seemingly irrelevant, wisdom of the fool.13
4.1. Time - As a generalist, the local minister must devote his time and emotional
resources to a number of tasks that are crucial to his overall ministry. The
majority of pastors cannot devote more than five or ten hours a week to
counselling without forgoing other crucial responsibilities. As a result, a
pastor should focus on honing their skills in immediate counselling and
referral.
4.2. Emotional fatigue - Pastor sees a lot of needs in terms of the mind, body,
soul, and emotions. They witness the most horrific suffering and
circumstances. They frequently struggle to separate themselves from the
suffering they witness practically every day.

12
Daniel Burnabass, ed., A Text book on Pastoral Care & Counselling ..., 39.
13
Alastair V. Campbell, ed., A Dictionary of Pastoral Care ..., 189-190.
 4.3. The fix-it syndrome: By nature, and personality, many pastors are fixers.
However, many pastoral care circumstances are unsolvable, at least
temporarily. As a result, pastors experience both disappointment and
hopelessness.
4.4. Ignorance: Ignorance on the aspect of the individual could be another limit.
While many people feel relieved to speak with Pastors or Ministers, there are
certain people who do not feel at ease when a Pastor gives them attention.
When a person does not open their mind to the Pastor, they cannot provide
effective support or care. Personal Problem: Since a pastor is also a human, he
or his family may experience physical or mental health issues that limit the
care they can provide. Additionally, their personal issues may prevent them
from providing the support and direction their clients need.
4.5. Difference in ideology: The difference in Ideology might cause a problem
between the counsellor and the client, if the client has a liberal view like
supporting homo-sexualism and other views that is also connected to his/her
problem and the counsellor is having a very conservative mindset there can be
a barrier between them and this could cause a problem. Lack of openness: Due
to the pastor's or counsellor’s lack of compassion or openness, the members of
the community may be reluctant to discuss their issues, sufferings, or sins with
them. The individual may find it difficult to open up to the pastor or
counsellor due to their fear of being judged.14

5. CONCLUSION
Pastoral care, is not merely just care for another. It is the care of the people by
the ministers or other qualified persons, following the footsteps of Jesus
Christ. It is administering care in terms of physical, mental and spiritual
realms. However, to err is to be human, no one can be perfect, thus with its
own limitations, pastoral care is carried out diligently by the followers of
Christ.

14
Thomas C. Oden, “Classical Pastoral Care: Pastoral Counsel,” (New York: The Crossroad Publishing
Company, 1989), 48.
BIBLIOGRAPHY

Campbell, Alastair V., ed., A Dictionary of Pastoral Care. London: SPCK, 1995.

Arnold, William V., Introduction to Pastoral Care. Philadelphia: The Westminster

Press, 1982.

Gerkin, Charles V., An Introduction to Pastoral Care Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1997.

Oden, Thomas C., Classical Pastoral Care: Pastoral Counsel New York: The
Crossroad Publishing Company, 1989.