Changing Face of Pastoral Theology

Abstract

I [K. Samuel Lee] recently had a conversation with an editor from a mainline denominational publishing house. She bemoaned the fact that there is a lack of pastoral care resources which can be used in educating local church pastors. She added that pastoral (and practical) theology as an academic discipline has become highly technical and theoretical, resulting in a big gap between academia and the church. I think it is important that we academicians heed this book editor’s critique. At the same time, she was ‘interpreting the signs of the times’ (Matthew 16:30) from her vantage point, which points to much deeper and more fundamental changes taking place in all spheres of life including theological education, the church, and global society. T. Howland Sanks wrote a decade ago about some of these changes taking place in the past half century. Sanks pointed out that (1) there have been significant changes in ‘who does theology.’ Theology is done no longer by clergy, who were exclusively men. Theology used to be done by clergy and for clergy in the church. Theology is no longer an enterprise owned by men, clergy, or the church. (2) As with ‘all things’ in life, ‘theology’ has become globalized and is not done just in Europe and North America. Robert J. Schreter speaks of ‘global theological flows,’ complexifying the discipline of theology. (3) ‘For whom is theology done’ has changed. It is no longer that theology is for the church community and clergy. Theology is now done by what Sanks calls ‘intelligent inquirers’ some but not all of whom are Christian. Some theologians use the context of the Christian tradition but others do theology ‘to contribute to the discussion of contemporary issues and to provide guidance for contemporary society.’ Theology today addresses an audience that includes the church, the academy, and society. (4) There have been changes in our cosmological understanding. Homo Sapiens no longer occupies the center of the universe with dominion over all things. We instead are finding that we occupy an infinitesimal place in the cosmos, which is leading us to reconsider the meaning and the purpose of our role and position in the cosmos. (5) There is the growing recognition that ‘theology has always been done in and from a particular context’ whether or not theologians were conscious of it. All theologies relate to or are constructed out of the local situation or location. (6) Theology is now done with ‘an increased awareness of the plurality of cultures, races, ethnicities, religions and socio-political ways of organizing ourselves.’ The attention to plurality has given rise to the emphasis of ‘the particular, local and regional’ with an increasing expectation that theologians participate in and dialogue about politics, international relations, education and religions, to name a few. Theology now commonly seeks interdisciplinary partners; theology to adequately address the complexities of a given topic, cannot be done from confinement within dogmatics alone. ‘The changing faces of theology’ Sanks pointed out a decade ago can be seen in the waning role of the clerical and church authority. Such a change is accompanied by the religious institutional turmoil challenging both the church and theological institutions. The COVID-19 pandemic, for example, further surfaces our deep spiritual longings in that we raise the questions about theodicy, social justice at the face of the racial disparity in healthcare, personal and