Care of Souls - Nurturing, Supporting, Healing, and Restoration in the Church

The significance of this reemergence of the soul and				political activities. All these and many more things have
the corresponding interest in spirituality is hard to				been undertaken to the end of what John McNeill
overestimate. The soul is the meeting point of the				describes as the presentation of all people perfect in
psychological and the spiritual. This means that soul				Christ to God.3 This suggests that the overarching
care which draws on the best insights of modern				goal of Christian soul care may be thought of as
therapeutic psychology as well as the pre-modern				spiritual formation, the formation of the character of
understandings and practices of historic Christian care				Christ within his people.
and nurture will never again be able to accept the				Twentieth-century soul care has become narrowed
artificial distinction of the psychological and spiritual. A				by psychological reductionism and truncated by clinical
proper understanding of the soul reunites the				visions of persons and their needs. Care has been
psychological and the spiritual and directs the activities				largely overshadowed by cure as clergy and laity alike
of those who care for the souls of others in such a				have been displaced by counselors as the preferred
way that their care touches the deepest levels of				providers. But Christian soul care is much broader than
peoples inner lives.				the curative activities associated with the modern
For Christian clergy this holds the possibility of				clinical therapeutics. A recovery of authentic Christian
reversing their marginalization from the affairs of the				soul care requires an appreciation of its distinctives and
soul. The acceptance of the distinction between the				a reaffirmation of the central place it deserves in the
psychological and spiritual aspects of persons that				life of the church. First steps toward such a recovery
was suggested by the rise of modern therapeutic				begin with an understanding of the following six
psychology resulted in the church being judged				features of Christian care of souls:
relevant to only the spiritual part of persons. This				1. Christian soul care is directed toward others, not
ultimately led to the displacement of clergy by				ourselves. On this point Christian soul care stands in
psychotherapists as curates of the soul. If clergy are				sharp contrast to pop soul care that has gained so
again to occupy a central role in the care and cure of				much currency in the last decade. While we do have a
souls, it is essential that the psycho spiritual nature of				responsibility to care for ourselves and for that care to
the soul be clearly understood.				address the deepest recesses of our inner lives, it
Christian counselors may be in even greater need of				merely confuses the understanding of the ancient
recovering an understanding of the soul and its care.				responsibilities of curanI amarum to describe this as
Frequently offering a form of care that draws its				soul care. The history of Christian soul care makes
direction primarily from modern psycho therapeutic				abundantly clear that the care of souls is a Christian
visions of healing, Christian counselors have often been				act of neighbor-love. When Jesus taught that we
left groping for ways to integrate their faith into their				should love our neighbor as ourselves, he was making
practice. But one of the flaws of this integration				a point about care of others, not care of self. The
metaphor is that it assumes that two things which are				principle of self care is implicit within it but is not its
basically separate can, by creativity and effort, be				essence. Careful attention to ones inner life is an
connected. This misses the point that they are already				indispensable prerequisite of caring for the souls of
connected. The dynamics of the soul are psycho				others. However, this is not the core of the Christian
spiritual, and its care must, by necessity, be psycho				understanding of the care of souls.
spiritual. Christian mental health professionals who dare				2. Christian soul care is normally provided through the
to understand their counseling as soul care are offered				medium of dialogue within the context of a relationship.
the possibility of a care and cure of souls that is more				As such, Christian soul care is not something we do to
vital, spiritual, and distinctively Christian. And churches				people. Rather it is something we do with them. When
that dare to recover the care of souls as central to				such dialogue follows the patterns of Jesus soul care,
their ministry are offered the possibility of relevance				it invites choices but is never coercive or manipulative,
that has often been lacking.				operates out of an explicit moral context but is never
A proper understanding of the soul also holds the				moralistic or judgmental, and meets people where they
promise of revitalizing Christian spirituality. Another				are through an offering of self that is highly
consequence of accepting the artificial distinction				individualized. There is nothing easy about such
between the psychological and spiritual aspects of				dialogue. It is not to be confused with debate,
persons has been a practice of Christian spirituality				instruction, preaching, discussion, counseling, or even
that emphasized knowing God but failed to emphasize				simple conversation. Dialogue demands a deep
knowing self. Tragically, this has often led to a				engagement with another person that honors his or
spirituality that is neither grounded nor vitally integrated				her individuality, separateness, and value. Dialogue is the
within the fabric of total personhood. Not only does this				sacred place in which we encounter the history of
fail to transform us in the depths of our being, it also				Christian soul care makes abundantly clear that the
leads to all the dangers associated with a lack of				care of souls is a Christian act of neighbor-love Thou
integrity. A spirituality that fails to involve the totality of				in others, an encounter that always holds the potential
our being is inevitably a spirituality that furthers our				for the growth and change of both parties. Nothing
fragmentation. An understanding of Christian spirituality				less is worthy of being called dialogue. Nothing else can
that affirms the interdependence of the deep knowing				serve as adequately as the medium for Christian soul
of God and self is a spirituality that integrates us in our				care.
depths and makes us both whole and holy.				3. Soul care dialogue does not focus on some narrow
What Is Soul Care?				spiritual aspect of personality but addresses the whole
The English phrase, care of souls, has its origins in the				person. While it gives priority to the nurture of spiritual
Latin cura an imarum. While cura is most commonly				awareness and response, it does so by focusing on
translated as care, it actually contains the idea of both				the rich interconnecting psycho spiritual tapestry of
care and cure. Care refers to actions which are				feeling, thinking, and willing that makes up the inner life.
designed to support the well-being of something or				Because the focus of care is the whole person, it is
someone. Cure refers to actions which are designed				also vitally concerned for the expression of this inner
to restore well-being which has been lost. The Christian				life in external behavior.
church has historically embraced both meanings of				4. Christian soul care operates within a moral context.
cura and has understood soul care to involve nurture				Not only should it be associated with love, forgiveness,
and support as well as healing and restoration. But				and grace, it should also provide an opportunity for
what is the focus of this care and cure? Without				moral inquiry into how life should be lived. This does not
getting into the academic debates that have occupied				make soul care the same as moral instruction and
philosophers and theologians for millennia, let us				certainly does not make it synonymous with moral
understand soul as referring to the whole person,				persuasion. However, the soul curate who seeks to
including the body, but with particular focus on the inner				offer care as a Christian will understand that such care
world of thinking, feeling, and willing.				must include room for moral reflection. Morality is a
Care of souls can thus be understood as the care of				deep part of all of human life. Therefore, moral
persons in their depth and totality, with particular				considerations belong at the very heart of care for
attention to their inner lives. This can never be				others that is intended to be life-enhancing.
accomplished by ignoring a person's physical existence				5. Christian soul care is concerned about community,
or the external world of behavior. Properly understood,				not just individuals. Preparation for taking up ones
soul care nurtures the inner life and guides the				responsibilities within community and living out one's life
expression of this inner life through the body into				within this context is part of the goal of Christian soul
external behavior. The recent reemergence of interest				care. Christian soul care addresses the individual as a
in the soul and its care has been one of several truly				part of a network of relationships. The individual is of
surprising developments of the closing days of the				supreme Importance. However, the individual is
20th century.				understood as being only capable of becoming fully
Led by Thomas Moores multi-year best-seller, Care of				and uniquely a self in relationship. Christian soul care
the Soul, publishers, TV producers, talk-show hosts,				takes this social and communal framework seriously.
and counselors quickly recognized the changing				6. Finally, Christian soul care is much too important to
zeitgeist and made hasty efforts to accommodate.1				be restricted to counselors or any other one group of
The present article would neither have been requested				people. Counseling holds an important place in the
nor read a decade ago. But the soul is back in vogue				broad spectrum of soul care activities, but properly
and its care a matter of interest to millions of people in				understood, soul care can never be limited to this
the post-modern West. This is what it means to speak				curative or problem focus. Christian soul care is
of the care of souls as the care of persons in their				offered by pare nots, spouses, educators, authors,
totality. Bodily care may include care of the inner				friends, clergy, spiritual directors, counselors and
person but does not, unfortunately, always do so.				psychotherapists, and a broad range of others. No one
However, soul care cannot neglect concern for the				group is superior to the others. Each fills a niche, and
whole person body, soul, and spirit.				each is afforded possibilities of care not available to
Caring for souls is caring for people in ways that not				others.
only acknowledge them as persons but which engage				Churches that seek to recover the care of souls as a
and address them in the deepest and most profoundly				central part of their ministry need to begin by ensuring
human aspects of their lives. This is the reason for the				the existence of an adequate foundation of family and
priority of the spiritual and psychological aspects of the				mutual care. Other, more specialized, forms of care
persons inner world in soul care. It is these aspects of				(such as counseling and spiritual direction) build on the
our lives that mark us most distinctively as human. But				care provided by family and friends. Whatever its
genuine soul care is never exclusively focused on any				form, However, soul care is facilitated by an
one aspect of a persons being to the exclusion of all				understanding of the demands of dialogue, the psycho
others. If care is to be worthy of being called soul care,				spiritual dynamics of the soul, and ways of nurturing
it must not address parts nor focus on problems but				spiritual response in others.
engage two or more people with each other to the				Congregations that have large percentages of their
end of the nurture and growth of the whole person.				members who do this well are congregations of both
Toward the Recovery of Christian Soul Care				growth and healing, care and cure. Recovery of the
Over the course of its long history, Christian soul care				richness of historic Christian soul care does not
has had varied expressions but has always been a				demand that we ignore the gains associated with the
central part of the life and mission of the church.				rise of therapeutic soul care. It does, However, demand
Reviewing this history, Clebsch and Jaekle note that				that we neither limit our care to clinical and therapeutic
such care has involved four primary elements healing,				forms of engagement nor the giving of such care to
sustaining, reconciling, and guiding.2 Healing involves				counselors or others trained in the clinical therapeutic
efforts to help others overcome some impairment and				arts and sciences. Christian counselors have
move toward wholeness. These curative efforts can				sometimes challenged the church to become a
involve physical healing as well as spiritual healing, but				therapeutic community. I would suggest that we need
the focus is always the total person, whole and holy.				to be more careful with our metaphors. Here is
Sustaining refers to acts of caring designed to help a				therapist directory for your help.
hurting person endure and transcend a circumstance in				Although the healing ministries of the church have
which restoration or recuperation is either impossible or				often been enriched by the incorporation of counseling
improbable. Reconciling refers to efforts to reestablish				insights and activities, the soul care that it has offered
broken relationships, and the presence of this				has often been narrowed. Counseling is not the core
component of care demonstrates the communal, not				ministry of the church. The core of Christian ministry is
simply individual, nature of Christian soul care.				soul care. Churches need to become communities of
Finally, guiding refers to helping people make wise				care, Christian soul care. Christian counselors can help
choices and thereby grow in spiritual maturity.				the church understand aspects of such care, but we
Christians seeking to care for the souls of others have				must be careful to not impose the clinical norms of
heard confessions, given encouragement and counsel,				therapeutic care on it. Nothing is more Important than
offered consolation, taken actions to protect the				being agents of Gods care for people in their depths
community from external and internal threats,				and totality, focusing particularly on their inner lives. Let
preached sermons, written books and letters, visited				us do what we can to restore such care to the heart
people, developed and run hospitals, organized schools				of the Christian church.
and offered education, and engaged in social and

Sacred Union

Care of Souls - Nurturing, Supporting, Healing, and Restoration in the Church