From adversity to altruism and beyond: a pastoral theology of resilience

The focus of this research is the experience of being strengthened in adversity,<br/>that is, the process of resilience. The context is Christian pastoral care with the<br/>research addressing questions of how Christian pastors can help others develop<br/>resilience and can be strengthened in pastoral ministry themselves.<br/>The multidisciplinary psychosocial science research into resilience is the first<br/>dialogue partner. Themes of struggle, the self, and relationships emerge as key<br/>components of the process of resilience, which is also characterized by a<br/>progression from adversity to altruism.<br/>These themes from resilience literature are brought into conversation with the<br/>biblical tradition of the desert where the landscape and metaphor of the desert<br/>point to three movements of a resilience process: embracing the desert, the<br/>encounter with the self and God and altruism expressed in pastoral<br/>responsibility.<br/>Christian texts emerge from the desert Christians of the fourth and fifth<br/>centuries: the Alphabetical Sayings attend to the need to embrace the adversity of<br/>the desert while the Institutes and Conferences of John Cassian provide a<br/>programme whereby the ascetical struggle involves encountering the self and<br/>God and is lived out by altruism and the responsibility of being an elder.<br/>The Christian theologian and pastor, Rowan Williams, addresses the themes of<br/>struggle, self, and relationships in such a way as to meet the challenges made to<br/>Christian theology because of the traditional focus on obedience, humility and<br/>self‐denial. By a process of creating space in relationships the mature Christian<br/>acts altruistically.<br/>The widely used myth and model of the wounded healer reveals how the<br/>pastoral relationship itself goes beyond altruism by enabling healing and<br/>growth not only for those in adversity, but also for the pastor. By drawing on<br/>the research as a whole I propose a more sustainable model for pastoral<br/>ministry: the resilient pastor.

Name dc:type.qualificationname

Doctor of Theology and Ministry

Level dc:type.qualificationlevel

Doctoral Thesis

Grantor dc:publisher.institution

King's College London

Year dc:date.issued

2011

Author dc:creator

• Allain Chapman, Justine

Advisors dc:contributor.advisor

• Sedmak, Clemens
• Ward, Peter

Language dc:language

eng

Identifier

oai:kclpure.kcl.ac.uk:studenttheses/a423a485-6b13-4344-afaf-f278d2c133c3

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:kclpure.kcl.ac.uk:studenttheses/a423a485-6b13-4344-afaf-f278d2c133c3