Shelters or Sanctuaries?: Practical theology, pastoral care and counseling, and homelessness

As homeless shelters are frequently supported and run by Christian organizations, the provision of pastoral care and counseling is a common practice. However, theory and research investigating how homeless persons experience pastoral care and counseling in shelters is extremely limited. Thus, current programs in pastoral care and counseling are largely based on theories and practices developed in and for other contexts. Moreover, no data exists documenting the effectiveness of those theories and practices for pastoral care and counseling of homeless persons and families. This dissertation utilizes practical theological methods to explore how pastoral care and counseling services are received by the residents of the Our House Shelter in Pomona, California---a ninety-day emergency homeless shelter---and how those services can be improved.;Using Don S. Browning's revised correlational approach to practical theology, this dissertation draws on ethnographic research methods, employing the software program NVivo 8, to construct thick description of the current practice. The researcher conducted semi-structured interviews with sixteen past shelter residents and engaged in participant observation by working and living in the shelter. In light of such thick description, an interdisciplinary review of literature serves as a dialogue partner to reflect on current practice. The theory examined in this study includes psychological and sociological theory on homelessness, pastoral theology of economics, theory on intercultural pastoral care and counseling, and the theological insights of Martin Luther King, Jr. and liberation theology.;Through dialogue between current practice and theory, a call for revised praxis is then posited. Augmented practices in the individual and group counseling processes, as well as in the care provided by shelter staff, volunteers, and congregational partners, are necessary in light of the wisdom of both the research partners and the interdisciplinary theory. The researcher's commitment is to learn how better to care for the residents of Our House, with such care emerging from a liberative, prophetic, and Christ-centered ethic.