A pastoral care hermeneutic for preaching: From patient bedside narrative to congregational pulpit proclamation

Chapter One observes “The Silence of Theology and Preaching in Pastoral Care,” as pastoral care has moved from the care of souls proclaimed in the pulpit within the worshipping community to the pastor's study for individual counseling. The shift from pulpit to study has been fostered by a reliance on social and behavioral sciences that has overshadowed scripture and theology. What happened to seelsorge, the care of souls?; Chapter Two recovers the message and vision of selected “Hermeneutical Voices Connecting Pastoral Care and Preaching.” Among the voices summarized are Gregory the Great, Harry Emerson Fosdick, Edgar Jackson, Donald Capps, and Charles Gerkin.; Chapter Three proposes that pastoral care preaching connecting bedside encounter and pulpit proclamation is possible because we are a storied people. Being a storied people infers contingency and historicity as we share our personal and communal experiences: we are connected to others and others' stories, and we are persons who live through events in time. Citing Stephen Crites, Capps, and Gerkin, this chapter argues that story is fundamental to human relationship and pastoral care.; With four “sweeps” of theological reflection adapted from Capps and Gerkin, Chapter Four develops a “Hermeneutical Model for Pastoral Care Preaching,” that moves from the story heard at patient bedside to story proclaimed in the congregational pulpit. Socio-rhetorical criticism is utilized to stitch together the sweeps of identifying the problem, understanding the narratives of the storyteller, understanding the story through the social sciences and scriptural theology, and pastoral intervention (including sermon).; Chapter Five demonstrates how this hermeneutical model found form through the preaching by clinical pastoral education students and by the author. Sermon selections show how the elements of the four sweeps and socao-rhetorical “textures” can be utilized in moving from listening to bedside story to proclaiming God's Story in the pulpit.