Encounter with Donald Capps: A Renewal for Pastoral Care

Encounter with Donald Capps: A Renewal for Pastoral Care

Timothy M. FONG

This article is on Donald Capps' proposal to renew pastoral care in a congregational context. First, Capps suggested making use of three genres in biblical studies (namely, lament, proverb, and parable) to inform pastoral counseling of the objective, method, and relationship between the counselor and counselor. This suggestion rectifies the current misconception/thought that the Bible no longer serves as the primary resource for pastoral counseling. Capps' insights would facilitate more effective grief, premarital, and marriage counseling. Second, Capps also suggested that Pastoral leaders should reclaim pastoral counseling as a vital part of their pastoral care. To be effective, pastoral counseling must take place in its unique congregational context. A new method, entitled “pastoral care case”, advocates taking important factors such as congregational settings, multifaceted relationships between the pastor and the counselors, as well as other people involved, into consideration for pastoral counseling. According to this new method, pastors would better understand not only their ministries but also themselves in the process of writing and interpreting their pastoral care cases . The above suggestions are helpful for Chinese churches, which are very much influenced by western churches in the area of pastoral care and counseling, to renew their pastoral ministry.