TEACHING PASTORAL THEOLOGY FROM A GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE

In March of 1993, the Association of Theological Schools sponsored a "Consultation on Globalization and the Practical Theological Disciplines." Papers from the consultation were printed in Theological Education, XXX, I. What follows is a condensation and revision of a paper that was part ofthat volume. My formal work on this topic began in 1989 with a workshop on "A Transcultural Perspective on Pastoral Theology" at the annual meeting of the Society for Pastoral Theology. The workshop reflected interest in cross-cultural studies that had begun in the late 1960s with a cross-cultural approach to a course in "Pastoral Psychology and Theology" and a seminar on "Pastoral Care and Cultural Patterns." The initial focus of the seminar was on "Death and Bereavement." A sabbatical leave in Singapore in 1971-72 provided an opportunity to study the response to death in Chinese society. After our return from Singapore, the focus of the seminar changed to "Aging;" and in 1985 Margaret (my wife) and I studied aging in Taiwan and Singapore. In 1991 we returned to Asia, where we both taught at Trinity Theological College, and visited Taiwan and the Philippines under the auspices of the United Board for Christian Higher Education in Asia. My thinking about teaching pastoral theology in global perspective continues to develop, and the present article is more than a condensed version of the Theological Education paper. That paper concluded with a syllabus for a "dream" course in Pastoral Theology. Such a syllabus is beyond the scope of this article, but the underlying assumptions and some of the ideas about the objectives, content, and methodology of teaching pastoral theology are included.