pastoral care in historical perspective - Bishopdale Theological ...

By W ILLl A~1 A. CLEBSCH .nd
CHARLES R. JAEK LE
PASTORAL
CARE IN
HISTORICAL
PERSPECTIVE
A JASON ARONSON BOOK
ROWMAN & L ITTLEFIELD PUBLISHERS, INC.
1,(",/,uI>I ·!Jou!dcr • New York· TorOn/V' Oxford

PAR'[ 3
THE FOUR
PASTORAL
FUN C TIONS
12
The ministry of pastoral care h 3s ~n defined and
the historical epochs during which that ministry was
carried on through tile ages ha,-e been delineated.
The four pasto ra l functiom of healing, sustaining,
guiding, and reconciling ha"e alternately and vari·
ously risen to prominence amidst the changing cuI·
tural, psychological. intellectual, and religious cir·
cumstances of men and women throughout the
Christian Era, .-\!though in any gil-en historic epoch
one fun ction pobri1.ed thc entire pastof3l endeavor
around itsel f, It has been seen that in each era all the
four fu nctions rcmaincd in operat ion. Kecping in
mind the c\cHhangin~ pattern of their prominence
in rdation to one anot her. it becomes helpful now to
view from histo rica l pcrspec!il'e each of the four
functions in tum. For. indeed, CJch function has
undergone its oll-n de,-dopmcnt. elaboration, and
transmutation as it has fou nd e~pressio n in terms of
differen t pSI'cholo!!ie!. hced different cultural cirC\lmstances,
embodied itself in different modes, and em·
ployed different mean$. Hniftg brieRy sketched a
generic history of the Chlj~ l i3n pastoral endeavor, we
now e ~a,"in e the specific histories-or "profiles" or
"biographies'"-of the four putoral functions ,

The Four P

Thf Four P4$torai Functions
Like as a fath er pitieth his children, so the Lord piticth them that
fcar him,
For he knoweth our frame; he lemcmbcreth that " 'C arc dust,
As for man, his dars afe as glass: as a Hower of the field, $0 he
flourisheth,
For thc wind puseth o\'cr it and it is gonc; and the p!;:ce thereof
shall know it no morc.
(Pnlm 103 :] 1_16. Autholi=i Version)
On the other hand, experiencing the preca riousness of his life may
move a man to Rive thanks for the freedom and health he does have,
and thus he mar be changed b~· the crisis. Paul Tournier relates that
' Vhen my wife broke hcr Jc~ t,,·o years ago. she said 10 me: "The
hospitals are always full; it is onl\" light Ihal fOI once it should be my
tum to go Ih e lt~ . " It is, then, life and health whkh turn out to be the
unmerited gifts. and the prolongation onife and Ihc re -establishmenl of
health, for which medicine labOll rs with all its strength, are seen to be
a blessing from the merci fu l Cod. a rcspite, a stay of execution. We may
ask why Cod grants us this respite. 2 :
Healing as restora tion and advallce has always becn an important
function of the minish ..., of Ihe cure o f souls. Its histof" is continuous
and rich in div~T$ it y and range. At va rioos times the chllrch has empha·
sized first one and then another aspect of the healing ministry, using a
variety of instrumentalities and methods.
l. Anointing. In the ea rly cen turies of the church's life, anointinl!:
with oil or unction was a popular an.d meanilll;lul method of llealing.
Oil was blessed at a public service, or in the sid: room, ei ther by a bishop
or by some charismatic person who might be a bishop or priest or lay·
man or even a laywoman. The oil was then administered either by the
clergy or laity, or the patient migllt anoint himself. Usuallr that part of
the body which was thought to be ill was anointed with the sign of the
cross. Other parts of the bod~' were also anointed; some authors recommend
three, others five, and some up to twent~· p1a~ . Sometimes the
anointings were to be repeated as often as dally for a wed:. u In a number
of instances water, blessed along with the oil, was drunk. Both the
water and the oil were intended to dri \"~ awa\' the fevers and the unclean
spirits which were believed to be responsible'for the m:llad y.~ ' Anointing
of the senses, including the old trad ition of anointing of loins and mouth,
may perhaps reReet some idea that demons were prone to attack the
22 Paul Toumicr, A Doc'Ot'$ CdSl'boo A: in , "~ Ligh ' of 'hi Bible, 0 . Edwin
Hudson (New York : Harper & Brother$. 1960 ), p. 173. By permission.
113 See Ludwig Ei~nh o fe r and Joteph Lechner, Tllr Lilll'gv o/ 'he Roman Rifl,
0 . A. J. and E. F. P«lcl (]\'cw Yo.k : Herder Ind HClde •. 1961), p. 383 .
14 See F. W . Puller, Th. Anoin' ing of the Siclt in ScriptuTI .. nd T ... dilion
(London: S.P.C.K., $CCC)nd ron., rev., 1910), p. 81.

The Four PastorDl Fun ctions
l5
person through the senses, or el·en. more crudely, that they entered the
body through orifi ces and the dnoinling of these entrances by making
the sign of the cross in hoI ), oil would repulse the onslaught .
By the ninth ttntu!,)', howeve r, the custom of anointing for healing
was beginning to undergo some fundamental changes in Western Christianity.
Unction was becoming e:>;heme unction as a specific preparation
of the soul for death. Bishop T heodulf of Orleans (d. 818 A.D.), one of
the theological advisors to Em peror Charles the Creat, sent his clergy
directions for pdstolal ca re, specifying that the oil which is blessed
should be applied on fiftee n different parts of the body. He wrote:
\Vhen the sic!; man ha; been anointed in the way that has been
set forth. let hi m be enjoin!d by the priest to say the Lord's Frayer
~nd the Creed. and to commend hi s spirit into the hands of Goo, ann
to fortify himself with the sign of the cross, and to bid farewell to
the living. Then let the priest communicate him .. . . ~ ~
In Theodulfs view we see a clear notion of unction as a last rite. This
idea gained momentum and became dominant until quite recent times,
when efforts have been made to revivc unction as a healing ministration.
II. $oints and Relics. An e:>;ceedingly interesting aspect of the
healing mini stry of the church is h ca lin~ throu~h contact with relics,
usually purporting to be a pdll of the bod~' of a saint or something
intimately connected with the life of !\1a r~' OT Jesus. Bits of bone, hair,
elothing, wood from the cross. and even mil!; said to be from the breasts
of the Virgin, ha \'e been bel ievcd to be almost overpowering in their
therapeutic value. A twelfth ·century chronicler tells us that, in 887 A.D.,
the relics of St. ~1artin of Tour, wcre brou!!ht from Auxerre. and when
two cripples, who had been ca r r in~ an ea s~' livelihood bege: in~ , heard of
It, they decided to gct out of the terri ton' as Quickl ... as possible lest they
be healed. Their worst fem were well founded, for the relics arrived
In the citv before thel' mi ~ht leave. and both were cured in spite of
themsel"es. 2G Belief in the healing power of relics was so widespread that
wealthy and influential persons often !;ept rel ic collections in order to
hive the correct cure for each disease. since some were supposed to be
more effecti\'e than others for certain ills. Martin Luther's prince,
Frederick the \Vise, Duke of Saxon\" bUIlt such a collection of relics,
Ilthough Luther sou~ ht to draw attention to other means of overcoming
JUness [SEE £ XIlU:IlT 12\.
Praye rs to certam sa ints hal'e been considcred especially conducive
10 healing. The cnnrern of a partieub. saint for victims of a certain
dlacase was usually dctermined by tllc manncr in which the sa int died.
UTheodul f. C"p . I ~I ,,". CIted b ~ Pulle •. op. cif., p. 19'1. By permission.
" Henry C h ~ ll e~ Lu ..-4. Hlslo,), oj lhe lnquirillon of Ihr Middlr ApI (3 vols.,
New y o,l: . Ibrpcr & 8 ru t h~n. 1S8&).1. 47-i 8.

36 Thr Four Pastoral Functions
Saint Agatha, an early Christian martyr. was supposed to have had her
breast cut off as she was being pul to death , and therefore diseases of
the female breast came under her Charge as the patlOn saint of nursing
women. Saint Apollonia was supposed to h~\ ' e had her teeth knocked
out and her jaw broken;Jra~ ' ers were dileeted to hcr to relieve toothache.
Diseases of the legs an fect were under the supcf\";sion of St. John.
Measles became known as St. l...

The Four Pastoral Functions 37
English royalty to practice healing,:i SI. Francis 0: Assisi (d. 1226) is
revered for having performed hea ling miracles [S EE [ XHIBIT 9J. After his
conversion, George Fox (d. 1691), founder of the Quaker movement,
became widely rc puted for healing not onl\" menial diseases but also
bodily ills. H is fo/1owels, wary of what the ~utho ri ties might do if any
hysteric:.ll belief in him as :.l mir:.lcle wOIker developed, toned down h is
healing succcsses. Regard less of attempts to minimize this charisma, it
seems certain tha t Fox's minis!r\" included a considerable number of
healings, which wcre probJbly dcscribed in a lost work called " Book of
r.,,[ iracJes. "lG
Pastora l healing at the hands of chJTismatic persons appeared as a
special power of !loth clerg}' and laymen after the Reformation in both
the Protestant and Ca tholic tradi tions. ;\'iany interesting records reDeet
this ongoing minisl f'·, few of them 1lI0re arresting!), than those regarding
Pastor Joh n Christopher Blu LlliJ.:ndt (1 805-1880), Lutheran pastor
in the village of Mottl.ingen in th e. Bl a~ l Forest, whose very homileti.cai
powen had th era peutic effects. I·lls bIographer reported the followrng
cure of an unbclic,·ing \,·orkman affl icted by an apparently incurable
disease of the slin; as a last, dcsperate resort, the man sought out the
noted pastor.
He C3me across the ~s t o r . just :IS B i llmh ~rd t was putting on his robes
bdore preaching in thc church . The man's diseaie was one of those
which had for long weighed upon Blumhardt's compassion. and he
r«ognizcd the s)"mptoms at once; for scarcely had the man begun to
describe his sickness, when Bl umhard t sa id. '· r-,Iy friend, you see I have
very little time. ~n d I call sce hoI\' wretched you aTe; go into the church
noo', and be ,·cry ~t t ent i" e, and l1la~ the Saviour help you." The man
eouid sca r eel~' control hi s indignation ~nd fury at th is rebuff. He mur·
mured to himself. ·'There's \·our merciful 8lumhardt! there are your
pious people! rm to go to d iurc11. am I?·· I-l owC'o·(T, he resolved to go
m. hopine: the p ~s t or mUlh t sa~' somtthing for his $uidance in . the
scnnon. BlumhMdt prt'ached on the t e ~t : ··Asl , :and It shall be gTVen
you." n,e man was quite unconscious how much Blumhardt's word,
impressed him: he ,till kept on murmuring to himself: "lie does not
ta lk of mc or for me:· and half in admiration. half in ~n ge r , he left the
church and the town aft er thc serdee. and began hil walk home. "These
pious people," '·this compassion:· rei terated themselves in his mind,
though jOined oow with milO)' of tht words of th ~ sermon. But soon
these con Ricting though ts wcre mingled with a new sensation: he began
to upcrience a peculiar feelmg in his skin. which seemed to start
and spread from certain spots: and tht feeling MiXed stronger and
stronger with the thought. ··Am [ be:ing healed?" Full of exeitemt nt, he
" H ~ggar d , op , cit. pp. 2Qt-2q6.
10 Ste Vernon :"obk. Th£ ,\/d" I" Lf~thfl B/fechtJ (New York : Philosophical
Lib:ary, 1953), pp. 7;-;i .

38 The four Pastarlll Functions
hurried home. demanded a light. wcnt alone into his bedroom, and
saw that the heliling had begun. (Blumhardt sa~·s that the proce" took
a fortnight.) The man wa ited till he was quite SllIt of the result, and
then huuied to Elberfeld. to srod word to Blumhardt, through some
friends of the latter, of the joyful news.31
Such accounts of fa ith.belling in our own da~ · arc neither unknown
nor rendered incredible by the fa ct tha t some of them raise suspicions
of charlatanryo Genuine healing powers of cctlain cbuismatic personsnot
excluding physicians-are widely recognized t oda~· despite their seem·
ing imperviousness to scientific inquj r ~· and description. 32
IV. Exorcism. A dramatic aspect of pastoral heaJing has been
exorcism-the driving away Qf mah~\· o lcnt spirits by means of sacred
words and holy rites. Jesus himself performed e:~mcisms, according to
gospel accounts. and from the beginning his followcrs healed in like
manner, Early it was required of persons about to be baptized that they
should be purified and healed b~' hal'ing el'iI spirits dri\'en out of thelT
bodies and souls. Bishop Cyril of Jcmsalem in the fourth cen tury ex·
horted all candidates for baptism to undergo exorcism, and one of the
very early utin missals known to us con tains an daborate rite for the
exorcism of candidates. In the latter. the exorcist places his hands upon
the head of the prostra te catechumen and pronounces a long adjuration,
The Cod of Abraham. Isaac, Jacob. and t-. loses is imokcd to send an
angel; the eursed devil is commanded to bow before di\'ine judgment,
acknowledge God and Christ, and flee from the sen'ants of God about
to be baptized; the sign of the cross on the candidatc's forehead becomes
the talisman which the demon wiit never dare to violate, This
rite of exorcism in connection with baptism re mains at least vestigially
in many modern baptism rites in which paren ts and godparen ts vow. in
the name of the child. to renounce the dedI. and the sign of the cross
is made on the forehead,n
The practice of e~orcism ::01 first was not confined to the clergy. Both
Tertullian and Origen claimed that the simplest and most unlearned of
the fai thful might cast out demons b~' pra~'e r and adjuration. Tn the
Eastern Church, the specific office of exorcist was nc,'er established. but
II F. Zundel. Pf4.U' /. C. BI"m~~,dl . Ein Ltlxmsbi/d (ZiJlich, 18801. pp. 417-
'438. as cited in translation bv PtrCl' Dcarmc •. Bod,' dnd Soul: An £nq"iry into
Ih. £ff.rt of Rrligion Upon 'H r"wi . . . (Ke",' YOT\( : E. P. Dutton'" Company.
1909). pp. 397-198. By permission.
U See Jerome D_ Frank. PtrStJd,;O'l dnd H ~ali"g: ,~ Compn'at;"e Study in
Pf)'C h O lh ,,~py ( Balt imo~ ; The lohns Hookins Press. 19(1),
U Cyril of Jerusalem. PTO('auches,s 9, :-;P:-"F:l. VII. 3. The l.atin exorcism
formula ITom the ~lasiln ~("nmenta:" is eited hI L. Duchesne. C~ristidn
\Vorshi,,; IIi Origin and £'·ollllion. I •. ',,1. L. :-'lcChue (~I I~ tdn _. London:
Society for Promoling Ch,iniln Kn o\\'ledg

Th, Four Pastor

The f our P/J$toTlJI Function,
the reality and pOl·vcr of S~ t an, they recommended that prayer alone be
used to cure diabolical attacks [SEE F.X IIIBIT 18J.
In OUf own day, the office of e~o r c i sl is considcred in the Roman
Church to be one of SCl'eral steps to\\'aro ordin3tion to the priesthood,
and it is llSualJy bestowed somctime during scmina~· studies. Only a
priest is authorized 10 usc the c~ o l c is ing powcrs, and in so doing he must
carefully follow the prescriptions of the Rituale Rom.:ln um while at the
same time he dutifull y regards the la\\'$ of pl o\'inci ~1 and diocesan synods,
which, for the most p~ r t , req uire the bishop's permission before exorcism
is done.
V. Mdgico-Medicine. Earl~ ' and mediel'al C hristians beliel'ed in the
demonic production of both menial and ph~ -sical d i ~case, and a variety
of prayers, adjurations, ritualistic acts. and conse(lalcd potions were used
as remedies. \Vith the earliest cncounter betwecn Christianity and the
so--called barbarian peoples of Europe, Christian inca ntations, rituals, and
holy objects came to be used to reinforcc the heJling power of herbal
unguents and of medicines that secm to hal'c no rational relation to
diseases. In epilepsy. attributed apparentl." to demonic activity. water
from the skull of a suicide was poured dOll'n thc patient's throat so that
the demon might taste the meanin!! of destruction ~n d e)(it hastily. A
ma jor magic

The Four Pastoral f unetio.1S 41
in a mortar. Pound e>erything together and add dusters of ivy-berries
thereto. And lake a ~hba rk and willow hligs and ()ak bark and "wir"
bark and crabapple bar k and sallow barl.: and woodbine leaves; all these
shall be taken h om the nether pHt and frorn the easlwide side of the
trees. Let all these b J rk~ be sclJp(d together and boiled in holy water
until they are well softened. ,\dd them then to the plants in the mortar.
Pound everyth ing together. ·!llcn I ~k e hart's grease and goafs grease
and well matured mulberry Il egu~. and huJrs grease and boar's grease
and ram's grease: let them all be melled together and poured into a
round lump. Then let all the bones be heaJXd together that one may
be able to collecl: :lnd let the bones he broken up with the back of an
axe and scethed, and tIre fat skimmcd and wOlked into a round lump.
Then let old hu tl er be ta ken and the plants and 'he barks boiled. all
being put together. \VI"m it has once come to the boil let it set, Then
scra pe all the ~l e J se rn to thc p:ln. as much !:Ike as th ou ma)'cs! dCiile to
have and as th ou mnest be :lh1c to reduce to a tar. Set ol'er the fire;
let cook , not boil too much, un til the uke be done. Filter th rough cloth.
Sct again over fh e firc. Take thcn nine dO\cs of garlic that has been
blessed; pound in "'iIlC, wring tillough doth; sc r~pe mynll the plant into
it and font.holy wax, and burning stor~x and white incense. Then pour
into the sake. so mueh th ~t it be the amount of 3 eggshells. Take then
old soap and mano\\' of an old ox. and eagle·s marrow. Add then the
tars and mix then with a quick·bea m {spoon] un til the salve be brown,
Sing thcn o"e r it Belledictus Oommus Del.s meusli,e., Psalm (xli,,]. and
the other Benl'diclus Dominus D('u$ Is.ad [i,e .. Lut e 1:68 anrl Psalm
Ixxii:18l , 3nd the t\1

42 Tht Four P4Sloral Function.!
fessions of medicine and pharmacy . S i milarl ~· . hospitals, once under
monastic or diocesan manae:ement. aTC now administered and staffed by
persons whose professional life is defined without ncecssa ry reference to
the church.
In modern times there has appc~ rcd among pastors a renewed interest
in spiritual healing, or faith .healing. by charismatic persons performing
the healing ministr,- of the church . Some such healers hal"c
repudiated the worth of medical lleal in g in thciT endeavor to recapture
for the church a ministry no\\" largely conducted outside the church. Yet
modem medicine and pS~ 'ch ia t ll' oft en ha\'c I'allled llighly the work of
pastors .as an important ad func! to the hea l j n~ enterprise. In spile of
renewed interest toda~' in p as tor ~ 1 h cali n ~ b ~' thc 13dnll on of hands, b~'
unction, by prayer and e:

The Four Pl1$toral Functions
a person's true destin" , but C hristians ne,-ertheless insisted thai, e,'en
when these circumManccs destro~ed life, beyond destruction lay man's
fina l fulfillment ,
During these early centurics of the Christian tradition, pastoral
sustaming took form in a fourfold task of helping persons troubled by an
overwhelming sense of loss. The firs t task of preservation sought to mainlain
a troubled person's sit uation Wi th as little loss as possible. Second,
Ihis function offered the cOllso/alioll that actual losses could not nullify
the person's opportunity to ach iel"e his des t in~' under Cod. Third, consolidatiOIl
of the rcmaining resources a"ailable to the sufferer built a
platform from which to fac e up to ;! depri,-ed life, Finally came rtldemption,
b~' embracing thc loss and b~ ' sctting out to achieve whatever historical
fulfillm cn t might be wresled h om li fe in the face of irretrieVllble
depriva tion.
\Vhile the four fold task of sustaining arose out of a particular transmutation
of Christian conviClion aboul historical existence, it nel'ertheless
equipped Christian pastors to ameliorate personal troubles that are,
of course, ubiquitous. :\t one time or another. cI'eTl' man encounters some
experience that dril'cs him headlong al\'al' from what he takes to be
human fulfillment. It c~n be almost an~ · t h ing-sudden and unprepared·
for success. bereavement. certain tl'PCS of social and economic demotion,
an inherita nce of nell' respon$ibilities, the loss or threat of loss of
health, serious bod i1I' impairmen t tha t brooks no recuperation, and so
forth , Instead of mobilizing creati\'eh to meet such e\"cnts that ch 3 ll en~e
us, we mal' become confused. or o"elk a~grcssil'e, or hopeless, or take
to a chemical solution like drug ~, or hack all-ay disconsolate. Perhaps
one does so for onk a shOit timc \I hile he consolidates for a new advance,
but sometimes such a retreat threatens to lapse into patholof!:ical
..... ithdrawal, which mal" i1110ke more and more facets of life and elicit
.elf·defeating and dcbilitJ t il\~ dcfellsile maneUl'ers, At times we can
easily understand going back\\"Jf(1. hilt in other instances we cannot
fa thom the hidden clements in the d~ namie which makes for persistent
rctreat. A busincssman is gi\-en a long·hoped·for promotion, and within
"" eeks he ma~" be ~ee n b~ ' colleagues and f a mil ~' to be in a most alanning
.tate of personal JiS3rr31: >omething in this man confronted with that
.ituation has unlea shed forces lIe could not crcatively cope with at the
time.
Situations wh ich woulJ tend to trigger rctreat for persons in one
culture might not so affect persons willI a dIfferen t worM view. For
.. ample, it is probable that John Call-in considcred dying to be an 0(­
euion not fo r sustaining ag~ins t re!Jeat. but r~lhcr for reconciling the
IOu! with C od and man !SEI: I::XH IB IT 13:. Far from prompting fear or
Inltlety, dying was thought of ~ s one's en t.\" into his true home. and the
dying person was seen by Call-in to be in the process of becoming
. Jritually stronger! O ur oll"n cult ure al the present time identifies be-

The fOil' Pastoral Functions
r~aveme nt as an ~\·~nt fre ighted wit h danger and considers bereaving
an important occasion for a sustain ing ministry e\·en though it may elicit
prominently the pastoral fun ction of reconciling. A s kill~d pastor or
friend can often help the mourncr fact' his ambivalences toward the deceased,
including his h os ti!i t ~ · and guilt. and thus reconcilation by confession
and forgiveness rna }" be a sine qua non of successful grieving.
Although the customary occasions fo r sus taining may evoke other
pastoral functions, the fourfold task of sustain ing becomes o perati\'~ in
any situation where the sense dominates that all of life is running
downhill.
I. Preservation . Usualh- the first task is presen-alion, or holding
the line against other tIneats [5[[ EXIIlBlT 101. or further loss, or excessive
retreat. In bcn:ilvement thCIC ma~· 3ppe:n an in:.hility on the part
of th~ bereal-'ed to commence momning. Onc mal" be so numbed by his
loss that his retreat borders on pathological denial. Some pastoral helpers
ha\'e found various wars to induce grie\·ing so that retreat may be kept
within normal limits.
A dramatic example of sustaining by holding the lin~ is an in·
cident recorded by a psychotherapist of his theupy with a deeply troubled
girl. H ~ says that, after a period of well·being. the patient telephoned
and seemed badly disturbed beca use med ica! tests had indicated a possible
uterine carcinoma. He wrote :
\Vhen she arrived for th c rap~ '. I 1I"3S shoded by her appearance.
There were no extern~1 an%!et\· srffiptoms. but there was the p ~l1or
of death, and her face and eyes irere those of a person making the
b st fut ile. wild s trug~l e for life. Her body stcmcd frail and limp with
defeat. Instead of gomg to ml ehail. I touched her head in a gesture
of symp~thy , whereupon she· put her h e~d ~g~in s t m)· stomach and
clung to me, rcleasing the sobs that Iud not been able to come. \VIlen
she spoke, it W"llS of her fear and of this fin~1. terrible defeat after the
long. uphill struggle. I spoke to hCI of faith and courage. of the fa ct
th~t ~h e might not hal·e cancer. and of the fact that medical science
was often able to deal suceessfullr with cancer.
As I sat down. she mOl"ed to a position where she could clasp my
hands and look d i re c l l~· into m~ · c~ ·e$. ..... $ I

The Four Postoral Functions
I experienced went out 10 her, and then she relaxed and her eyelids
flickered; and, as 1 w~lched her mOI'e ~nd spe~ k, I saw that she .... '3S not
ps),chotie, and I fel t tha i I had held her from the abyss of internal
isolation on the edge of which she w~\'e!ed.
She mo,'ed back to her chail. stletched out in it, and spoke the
peace she now felt . 1. too, felt a dccp sense of peace and unity. She
said that fOI the first time, she was relaxed. TIlen, searching the limits
of the safety she Iud found . slu: asked whether bith in Cod could
keep her from hal'ing cancer. Fedmg tlut she needed realistic authority.
I laId her I belie,'ed that Cod wOlks IhlOugh natural law; that, if she
had cancer, ITe would not change that; but that He would be with her
through the ordeal. if it c;l.me to that ,n
In this ,'ery dramatic instance of preservation, a desperate girl has
called for her psychotherapist to embolden her fl ickering faith with
strength and resources that were his, not hers. His means of preservation
were in the last anah-sis ineff:Jb1c, but in a turbulent moment the encounter
has tapped h3l f·buried and dorm;Jnt sources of strength in both
persons that would rcmain mute sa,'e in the fa ce of ultimate questionings
and seehngs. A life that W3S plunging away flam fulfillment has found
a stopping point. and total retreat has been checked. Through the ages
pastors have found llIan~ ' means of helping prcser.'e distraught persons
from destruction by an overwhelming sense of misery. These means-a
touch, a glance. a word, a gesture-could nCI"Cr be enumerated or classified.
but their usefulness remains apparent ne\'ertheless. Preservation is
the first task of sustain ing.
II. ConsolatiOI!. :\fter preservation, in whate,'er degree that it may
be necessary and b~ ' whaleler means, then consolation is in order. Hopefully.
a pastor will be as sensitive in the matter of timing for consolation
as was 10hn Cllrysostolll in his letter to a }'oung widow [S EE EXIIIBIT 5);
he tells her that he absta ined from IITil ing when her sorrow was at its
height so that she could ha,'e her fill of momning-for only then could
Ihe benefit from his consolations.
Seen in historic pcrspeeti,·e. p3stor31 consolation serves to relieve
one's sense of misery b ~ brillgillg the sufferer into an understanding of
his still belonging to the company of hopeful Ii,-ing. Cyprian comforted
Ihe a bout·to,be-ma rt ~ red Christians in T hlb;Jris with the message that
Ihey were known b ~ ' C od and that they belonged in their struggles to the
.. ints both on e~rt l l and in heal'en [S EE I:XIUBIT 4J. From long befole
the Christian era come~ this classic Hebrew religious utterance of con­
IOlation in the Illid st of ineilictablc loss:
3TStanky \\'. SIJI".IJ t 31ld R.I"nond I Conn,; (cds.l , Critical Incidents in
Psyd,ot/,erap), ( E"~\,,, (}\ .d elllh, ;\ I : Plcnt,edhH, Inc,. 19)9), p. 66. By
pcnmsslull .

The Four Pastoral Functions
The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He maketh me to lie down in grC('n paSIures: he leadeth me beside
the still waters.
He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness
far his name's sake.
Yea, though I walk th rough the \· al1e~· of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil: for thou art .... ith me; thy rod and thy staff they
comfort me.
Thou prepares! a table before me in the presence of mine enemies:
thou anointest my head with oil ; my ClIp runneth ()\·et. .
Surely goodnen and mercy shall follow me aU the da ys of my hfe:
and J will dwell in the house of the Lord lor Cl't~ r.
(P»lm B. Aulhorized Venion)
Nor has spttifi cally Christ ian literature in the modern idiom diminished
the power of religious comfort. encouragement. and strength in the face
a f trouble that can be overcome not in the e:d ernal fac ts of life but only
in the depth of the human soul: the familia r h~'mn consoles by its as·
surance that the sufferer is not aloIle :
Abide with me; fast bUs the e\'entide:
The darkness dcepcm: Lord. with me ahide :
M en other hdpelS f~il. ~nd eomfOlts Ike.
Help of the helpless, 0 abide wilh me.
Swift to its close cbhs out life's little da\'.
Earth's joys glOw dim. its glories p~ss ~,~· a~ · .
Change ~nd deea\' in ~!l around I see;
o thou who ehangesl nOI. abide lI'ilh me.
I necd th}' presence e\"
Mat but thy grace can foil the tempter's power?
\Vha, like thyself, m)' guide and ~ 13 y can be?
Through cloud ~nd sunshine. Lord. abide with me.
~' p~ssing hOIlI;
1 fcar no foe, with thee ~t hand to bless;
I11s ha"e no w('i~h t. and tea r$ no bi tterness.
\\'here is death s sting? \\here. grne. thy \'ielory?
I triumph still. if thou abide wilh me.
Hold thou till' c r O~1 befole my dosing eves:
Shine througli the gloom and point me to the skies:
H c~v'n'$ morning breaks, and enth's "ain shadows flee:
In life, iIl death. 0 Lord. abide with me. Amen.l8
II By Henry Fr:ancis L)·te. 18-4,; l)le ;s » id to h3,-e ""rillen the hymn in 1820
after vi5iting I d ~iog friend who Itpt31ro Ih( pht3st ....... bide wilh me,'· Sec
Thr Hymnal 1940 Comp""ion b,' 1 he Joint Commi$!ioo on the Revision of
tbe Hymnal of the Protestant EpiKOp31 Chulch in Ibe Uoitcd Statts of
ArneriCll (New York: The Cburch Pens,oo Fund. I'H9), p. 289, wbere 5C\'c,al
versions of the bymn's Oligm arc summarized. The tnt 3pptars in most currmt

The Four Pastoral Function$
Consolation 5er,es as the second task in pastoral sustaining by helping
to relieve a disconsolate person from his sense of misery, even while
acknowledging that the damaging or robbing experience that initiated
disconsolation remains irreparable III and of itself. Our citat ion of a
classical and a modern hymn of consolation must not suggest that con­
,olation can be brough t about onl:- bl- recourse to memorable phrases. It
may involve the pll:"sieal gesture of helping to "keep one's chin up," or
the imparting of a blessing, or mercl:- the tum of the mood that comes
about after a period of silent accom pan iment. Consolation, however, is
distinct from preservation. Prcscn'alion finds a stopping point for regres­
. ive movement: consolation relie\'es the sense of misery that began
and increased during the re'ircssil'e mO\ement.
III. Consolidation , Relief from miser·: enables the sustaining
ministry to proceed with a regrou ping of rema ining resources despite
loss, a new mobilization wlllCh we call consolidation. In this act, suffer­
Ing is put into perspcctil"e Within the totalil:· of living, and the deprived
person gathers himself together again"
T he chaplain of a -hospital for rehabihtation of teen.aged drug
.ddicts in a iaro;e :'merican city reported the following comersation with
III eighteen-year"old girl:
GIRL: \Vell. I 10,1 nw Khoplin!\ and got pr~tty low. You know what
I" ve been doing. Ren:rcnd ,
CluPLArs: I kno"".,
GIRl. : What do 1 do now' l"m here, J took the cure. But where'; up?
CHAPLAIN: You wallt to mo,-e ahead_
GIRL: I can't go bad hefore all that. Cood or bad-and most of it's
been bd-l"m different. Like ~·ou say, J'n: got to go ahead
somewh~re . [paule] but 1 don't know where. J '
Or, a bereaved widol\' who moves in existential retreat before the loss of
hl r husband gets control of herself, Teccil'cs consolation, and then per­
H Ives, percha nce, that ~hc still has her children to live for.
In the act of consol idation, the pastor's sustaining ministry helps
th. troubled person ~elcc t out of a seeming totalitl· of woe some foundatkln
for reconstruction of life, The aClual loss can' be secn for what it is,
• partial loss. Not all things in life arc tumbling down, although it has
... med that wa\'. and now the actual deprivation can be embraced.
One can literallv '·face up to it'· b~- embracing the loss and building
... In. Perhaps the regrouping is done on the basis of the hackneyed
.I,C that "mi ser~· lo,"e; compan~-: · \Vh:J.\elcr the means or device, this
- contetions
of p,,,te ltant hmill-mlf' ali~, The Hymnal of th~ P.otutant
I!pucopaI Chu.

Thf' Fou, Pastoral Functions
third mode of the sustaining mini~t~· ~e .. ms to set the loss within the
tolal focus of life and thus to enahle the depri"d person to act:ept his
deprived life as the only life lef t him to li,·e.
IV. Redemption. F in~l1y. the p storal function of sustaining helps
a deprived person, who has embraced his loss and regrouped his remain ing
resources, begin to build an o n gnin~ lik l\r;rl Olll'C " ,ule P\II"~\IC~ its
fulfillment and destinv on a new b3sis. The 1055 is not restored-should
that be possible we ;"'ould have tht ministry " f h e~ ' ing, for healing
operates in circumstances in which lo\s is retrie\'able or harm is reparable
and the retrieving or repair oifels opportllnity fOf sp,rilllal ad,·ance. \Vhilc
the sustaining ministry works also tOIl"Hd some spiritual ad"anee, it hopes
to reco\'C:r a positive approach to life that cannot achie\'e restoration of
the siQ/us q uo ante. Perhaps the wido'.'· ledeems hel los5 bl' incorporating
her husband's virtues in to ller own life; perhaps the widower becomes
somehow both mother and father te his orphaned ~ h ildTc n . The char·
aeter of redemption of loss was wellllnderstood hi' Je rem~' Ta)'lor, who
showed how to take advantage of incapacities such .11 illness and even
death by embracing them as good Isn : fX1!t R IT 161. John Mi lton's
famous sonnet exprcsscs the way in which he redccmed the loss of h is
eyesight:
\ Vhcn I consider how "'~. t~ht i, 'pent.
E'le half m)' d~\"S. in Ihis d~1 1; worid ~orl wide,
And t h~t one Talent "'hi:h is death to hidc-,
Lodg'd with me uscless. though m~' Soul mOle ben t
To serve therc"·ilh my ~ b kcr. lnd prneot
My true account. least he rch"oing chide.
Doth Cod e~ac t da y.1ahclII. light den,··d.
I fondl~ asl;. Bul pa t icnc~ 10 plnent
That murmur, soon replies. Cod do th nOI need
Either m an 'S work 01 his own gilt ("

The Four Pastoral FU1]ctions 49
On the otlier lland, the cra of Enlightenment evoked a prominent
sustaining ministry under qUite different conditions, It was then assumed
that very much of human fulfillment might be found within the conditions
of historic c~ls t cncc. Sustaming therefore sought to show how a
q uick recovery from loss might be made by moral living under Christian
sanctions. Under the rulmg lirtues of deity. morality, and immortality,
the sense of loss induced by dC\'astating. untoward, or tragic human circumstances
was minimized in a \\a~ ' that made recovery seem facile and
almost automatic.
l'vloderns assume that historic e~istence furnishes almost unlimited
possibilities for the fruition of hu man life. but at the same time they
perceive better than their predecessors the CIlormous subtlety of the
forces that can triggn retreat and make life seem to plunge downhill.
Although si tuations 1\llICh prol ide occasions for the ministry of sustaining
change, and althou~h in our wne commonly assumed "profits" of
living can becolile a ~ uel'nstating as commonly assumed "losses," sustaining
continues to be a \ery prominent pastoral function. As new oc·
easions for retreat appear. ~o do ncll' modes of preservation, consolation,
consol idation, and redemption. In the mids t of these changes. the Christian
struggle agains t forces that dril'C the human spirit away from fulfillment
continues, as noted ur Piene Teilhard de Chardin, S.J .• who
wrote:
No, if he IS to practise 10 Ihe filII the perfection of his Christianity,
the Christian must nol faltcr ;1] Ins dull' to resist evil. On the con·
tra ry .. . he must fight sincereh- and \\'Ith all his strength, in union
with the creati\'(: fOTce of the "'olld. to dri"e back e\'il-so that nothing
in him or around him may be dimilllshed .... [T]he belie"er is the
convinced al'" of aU those who thInk that human it\' will not succeed
unless it st ri ves with all its nllght to real ize its potentialities.i O
Through the h\"mnody of the chuTch. through personal ministrations
by clergy and lay Christians. and, not least. by an enormous mass of de·
votionalliterature. the susta ining ministrl' operates in our time much as
II has in the past centuries. Its fourfold task continues to be a meaningful
,,,,t of the Christian cure of souls ane! promises to be a creative ministry
hto and through our own time of confusion and transition.
, . GUiding
Cuiding is that function of the ministry of the cure of souls which
. n lves at some wisdom concerning wha t one ought to do when he is
,. cd with a difficlilt problem of choosing between various courses of
10 Piene Tcilhard d~ Ctmdin. The On'inc .~Iili.u (!\"cw YOlk: H~rpet & S,oth.
el$. Publilhm. 1960]. p. 6-1 BY"""'''Iliol1.

50 Tile Four PastorCl! Functions
thought or action. Fundarncntallr. the guiding ministry assumes that
useful wisdom, which edifies and illumina tes the meaning and direction
of a person's life, can be rllJde 3,-ailabte within the framework of the
helping act. This wisdom may be t ho~ght of as having its origin from
within the troubled person himself, h Om the experience of the counselor,
from the common values regnant in their mutually shared culture, from
a superior wisdom available to the coumelor, or el'en from a body of
truth or knowledge independent of both the counselor and counselee. In
any case, the wisdom mllst be fa shioned or shaped to the immediate d r­
cumstances of the troubled person in order thai it ma~ ' be appropriated
and used in the C

Th, Four Pastoral Fl.l llction$ 51
honour: ~n d his ad,·iee was charitable, and pre\"2iled; for though the
adultery w~s fut me. ret the intended murder was present, lind the
evil "\\"2S lessened lI~ much as it could. and no man prejudiced, but the
life of one ~, · c d . Bu t if he belie,·es, that by th is act Virginia will be so
e xa ~per at ed . that she will tliln adulteress in revenge, or kill her hus·
band; this i$ not to be ad,·ised . ..."
Another form of ad, ice·gi\·ing seeks to bring the penitent or troubled
person into a sil ualron \\.!Jic h will be conduci\·e to his welfare; this form
is related to, but IlClertheless distinct from, e,·angelism (understood as
ecclesiastical en l i~ l l1Ien t l. since it seeh to initiate the client into the
wisdom or help he need •. The SpiritUel! Exercises of St. Ignatius Loyola
is an excellen t example o f thi. form [SEE EXI!I BIT 14]. Ignatius was
anxious that the $pirltuaJ director should remai n in the h:ld::ground, and
never force or dri,·e the person under his care, nor in any way impose
the director's own liews or predrlcrtions. nor e\"(:n press the validity of a
certain body of wisdom or truth. Rather, the director follows from be·
hind, watching to see in what way Cod migh t be lead ing the retTeatant,
remaining alert to encoura ge him in his trials and to guard aga inst rash
promises and temptations: he is ·to ··lea\"(: the C reator to act immediately
with the creature, and the creature with its Creator and Lord. " ~ 2 The
director is to help the peni tent to know wisdom when he sees it and to
shepherd him towa rd and into a disciplined Christian life . tn other
word s, the director is able 10 discern the cha racter of the spirit which is
leading the rcl rca lan t on , and he is to ach·ise and alert the retreatant
as to whether he is beckoned forward hI" the spirit of Cod or by some
other. II!:natiu5 was not disposed to doubt that the invitations of the
spirit of God arc al \\"a ~s inlo the protection and wisdom of the church,
not always invoking a Iel i ~ ious vocation but eert3inly leading the de\"Out
lavman to need the church 's erace 3nd truth. In an v event, the picture
of the director as following bchind, shepherdrng the troubled person
Into th3t which he needs. resembles the practice of refening a needy
person to a thera peutic setting which it is believed will benefit him.
II. De...il.craft. Historically the ministn: of guidllnce, like other
fun ctions of soul care. has engaged in de\·il·cra ft as an important activity.
It was Luther's conviction tha t no man ought to be alone against Satan,
lnd that Cod instituted the church and the min istry of the Word in
order that believers miJ;ht join hands and help one another, thus would
be thwarted Sa tan's abilit)" to ddea t and destroy any lone individual.
S.tan and his cohorts were thought to use thc stratcgem of isolating the
II Jeremy T ~)"lor, DuCIO' Dubilan lium, \'. 21. in Th. Whole Worh of Th.
R i~ht Rev. Te,em)· Ta}la •• D.o. (l '011. London: Henry C. Bohn, !867),
III. 170.
~ I 1""2tills Lo,·ob. The Spi.itual .E'Q'cisu. Fifteenth "'nnot~tion In t UH,.IT
H J~ · · .

52 Tilt Four Pastoral Functions
sinner and convincing him thai no help \\"3S available from others or
from Jesus Christ. Church diSCipline 01l lhi5 I' jell' assumed that the ranks
needed to be strong, and it helped each bclitTCr to interlock his f;lith
and strength with that of others in order 10 u::sist tt)C assault tha t was
ever poised over the church and Ol"e r indil"idual Christians.
Great store has been sct on counselors "ho were good figh ters
against Satan and who knew his tactics and stra tegy. John Bunyan's
autobiography, Cr(lce About!Cling 10 tile Chief of Sinners [SEE EX!IIBIT
17J. tells how he withdrew from a certa in counselor \\'ho knew nothing
about devil·craft and was therefore of little IISC II hen Satan was em·
playing relentless and eficcti,'c \\'31, Bunyan wrole:
About this time I took :In oppo:hmit)" to b,ea\: my mind to an
ancient Christian, and told him ~11 mv eas{'; I told him also, that I
was afraid I had sinned the sin ag~;nl t tfl e Iloh' Gllost; and he told me,
he thought so too. Here. therefore. I had but cold comfort; but talking
a little morc with him. I fou nd him. though a good man, a strangcr
to much combat with the de,il. \\ 'herefore I wen t to God again, as well
as I could, for mere)" stili .
Now also did the tempter bc~in
to mock me in m)" misery, saying,
"That seeing 1 had thus p.u ted \\ilh the Lonl Jesus and provoked
him to displeasure, who would h:l\e stood bet"cen my soul and the
flame of devouring lirt. there \, ~s nOIll but ont way. and that was,
to pray that God the Father 1I"01iid be a \ lcdiator betwixt his Son
and me .. .. "
... Oh! I saw it was as eas\' to persll~de him to make a new
world, a new covenant, or a IIe-W Bible . .. as to pra)' for such a thing: 13
Devil-craft as an aspcd of pastoral guidance was held to be exceedingly
important frOIll the fotlTtccnth through the se\'cnteenth century
in both the Catholic and Pro testant traditions: it has been employed fi rst
by one and then by another of the pastoral functions of sustaining, guiding,
healing, and reconciling. EI('rlldlcrc it lI"as allrecd that Satan was a
major adversary with whom the Christian would be locked in mortal
spiritual combat for as long as he lin'd; howc\·er. \'a rious conditions and
times dictated particuhr understandings and insights. and cas t counseling
as devil-craft within its Oll"n peculiar mold. On thc whole, dc\'il·craft
belonged under the fUllc tion of 5uQain ilill in the minist'!' and thought
of John Bun\·an. Bunyan saw his life beset on C\'cry side by the traps
and snares of a wicked and c\-ii world . His task 1l3Sicalll' was that of
preserving his soul on its journcv through this \'a!e of woe to its heavenhreward
. One needed to knOll" how the

The Four Pastorttl Functions 53
the line against his ~SSJ ult s. But ~n important aspect of fighting the
devil was to reject his tcmptnlions by follo wi ng the Bible as the source
of wisdo m for use in decisions of grea t perple ~i t y. \Ve have seen devilcraft
in healing as exorcism; it was 3n interesting aspect o f reconciling,
especially in the mediel'al penitcntials; and it has been an obviously important
aspect of guiding,
III. Listerzing. T oward thc other cnd of the continuum from
advice·giving to reflecting is the mode of guiding wh ich emphasizes listening
in one o f three 11 3 1'5.
T here is listening II h'jch aims toward clarifica tion under the simple
idea that, unless the counselor restrains his temptation to do most of
the talking, he wi!! nel'e r know Ilhat the counselee is trying to say.
Dietrich Bonhoeffcr ha s put the matte r lI"ell:
Many people ;lre lool ing for an (ar t ha t will listen. They do not
find it among C hristinM, OCcJUSC these Christians are taIling where
they should be listening. D'I I he who can no longcr listen to his
brother will soon be no longer listening to Cod either; he will be doing
nothing but prattle in the prcscnce of Cod too. This is the be~inning
of the death of the spiritual life. and in the end there is nothmg left
but spiritual ehattci and clerical condescension an i)'ed in pious words.
One who cannot !r,tcn long and patien tly will pre$ently be talking
beside thc poin t and be nCI ' speaki ng to others, albeit he be
not conscious of it. Am'one Ilho thiuh tha t his time is too valuable
to spend k ~ping q uict 'will cI'cn tuJlk hJI'c no ti me for God and his
brother, but only fOI himself and for his O\I'n follies."
Listening has been deemed i nd i~ pcn ; ablc to the repertory of the
1I 111lSeior for anothel reason. Unde r conditions in which the inner
tWe of the troubled person is the l ey to a resolution of his difficulty,
tt becomes necessary for the conselee to unburden himself by ventilating
hi' in ner pressures, A homily concerning the meaning of counseling,
dfllvcred by Origen of :\1cxandrj~ (d. 2H A.D.), exhorted that talking
lint problems and difficulties " as good for emotional health. Origen gave
"'110 advice on choosing a good counselor.
~e, then. what hair script Ufe tcaches us, that it is not right to
bUf)' sin in aUf hean s .. . . But if J man bC. Publ .. h cr~. 1 9;~ ) . pp 9i-9S. B) permission.

The Four Pastoral Functions
with a mourner. one who understands the word of s}mpathy, and then
if he, a man who has th us shown himself a learned and merciful
doctor, tells you to do anything, or gi ves ~0 11 an)' advice, do it. . , ,45
Finally, listening may aim to help the ministry of guidance by re·
Becting back to the troubled person the inner mean ing of what he is
saying. in order that he may hear clearl~- his o\\"n thou~ht$ when they
are hidden from him, or confused, or equil·oca l. This kind of guiding
develops insights in the belief th at self·understanding will provide one
of the essential ke\"s both to the solution of the counselee's difficulties
and to his spirituai growth_ A Cistercian monk. whose name we do not
know, wrote sometime during the thirteenth century a beautiful and
moving confession , a portion of which nea tl ), illustrates the importance
of self-understanding to decision·maki ng.
If I dared not look into my con~iencc I would remain in ignorance
about myself. but now that I look within my soul. I am appalled by
what I sec. The deeper I look, the morc terrible arc the things r find _
r hal'e not ceased to sin. flom the momen t when m" fi rst sin was committed
long ago: nor do I cease 10 sin now. I am so .;:sed to sinning that
I e:1Il look on the C\'il J ha"e done ,,-ilhoul 50110W at tea,s, 11,at ,,}one
is like a sign of damnation . When one of the membrn of the body is
without feeling. it is sometimes a sign th~t it is already moribund. One
cannot cure an illness of which one is unconscioll S. ,t
The modern psychological emphasis on uncoveling inner dissonances
and repressions so tllat the counselee can work through with
the therapist the dynamics of his inner Ch3 0S, has fi rm antecedents in
the introspection of the monastic life and in the m~'st i ci\m that arose out
of the medieval Christian monasteries. A1tllOugh our recen t psychology
diverges greatly from that of the Cailiolic m ~ · s t ics. there appea rs between
the two a similar profound con\'iction that Iroubles-especially those
surrounding important decision.making ac! il'ity- abide in the human
spirit,
IV. T he Importatlu of DecisiotlS. The histo~' of the pastoral
function of guiding shows constant effort 10 understand and describe
human decisions and woes in their various detailed puts and yet sub
specie aeternitatis. In the Catholic tradition, th is was accomplished
mainly by discussing troubles in the language of dcmoni5m or by utilizing
n Origen, In Pm/m :r>=ii. Hom. il.6. quoted b,' 11.. C . ~ I o , ti mt:r, The Origin,
of Private P'nan« in th" \V"'t~ r n Church (OdOld: ,t tile Clarendon Press,
1939), pp. 2S-29. By ptrmission,
4~ From the f',-Icditatio !'iisima, II. Ceofi'e\" Webb .nd Ad,i.n \V ~ l~ er in The
School 01 ~II-hlo,dtdge. t\ S)mPOI1~m -/lom .\lediae,al Sources (London:
A_ R_ Mo ...·b•• y Ind Co .. LimIted, ]9;6). p. 3). B!' pt'lmiUJCI!.

T he Four Pastoral Furzetions
the understanding of the capital sins. In Protestant circles, where the
system of capital sins was rejected as too mechanical and anachronistic,
th e church's guidi ng ministry still aimed at regarding human decisions
as highly significant before Cod.
If a man were possessed or obsessed by demons, he could make
exceedingly detailed descriptions of his condition in a way that allowed
him to acknowledge that he was a partiCIpant in a salvation drama of
cosmic proportions. By the time of John Cassian [SEE: EXHretT 6). and
with the subsequent modific .. tions produced by Benedict of Nursla and
Gregory the Creat, a system of psycho l o l;:ic~ l understandings was articula
ted t h~t was amazing in its detai l and depth. Pride was seen as the
root sin, with six olhers arranged around it and nourished by it. Later
on, even more details of the system of capital sins were: elaborated by
considerinl;: each of the seven 10 be a breedim; ground fo r many other
sins. Speaking of the e\'ih bred fr om pride, a late tv,'elfth - or eady thirteenth

56 T he Four Pas/orlll Function!
of Pride hath whelped, bllt of these. thinl: and gi,'c heed ,'cry greatly,
for I do but go over them lightly, ~nd but n3me thern. n
In art, through homilies, and by various teaching devices. the capital
or cardinal sins were embedded in the undentanding of western man
for well over a thousand year s, and they pro"ided him with a way by
which he could discuss h imself in his relationsh ip to others and to Cod
in a single unified system. An!' perSOn could begin with his own besetting
sin, and, by tracing its intcHcla tionship to other sins, he would
finally find himself at the core question of life-namely, his relation to
God. The system of capital sins :1110\\"00 one to speak of man's condition
coram deo while at the same time describing minutely a man's troubles
in relation-to himself and to othcrs.
Since the Reforma tion, and more pcr .. a s i~·cl ! · since the Enlightenment,
ho ..... tver, men and women ha\'e incTcasingly viewed personal
problems and decisions in ways whieh do not reAeet or derive from
traditional Christian notions of life and action. Increasingly the proximate
concerns of prudence rath~r than the ult imate

The Four PastorClI Funct ions
On the one ham!, leconciliation takes place through forgiveness,
which can be 3 proclamation, or an announcement, or even a very simple
gcstme indicating that, in spite of the walls of pride and hurt which
separate and alienate men. somet hing has occurred to re-establish and
reunite persom to each other and, indeed, to God. Confession and repentance
m a~ be considered ne

"
The F OU T Pastor.u Fune/ions
minister gives warning for the celebration of the holy Communion, he
may read this ~horta t ion , or such part of i t as he deems helpful. He
exhorts, in part:
And if ye shall perceive yo ur o/lenses to be weh as arc not only agaim t
God, but also against ~' o ur n eighbours: then ~'e sha\! reconcile yo urselves
unto them; being read )' to make r e~t; tuli on and satisfaction, according
to the utterm ost of rOllT powers, for all injuries and wrongs done
by you to any other; and being likewise ready to 10Ig;'"( others who ha,'e
offended you, as ye would h" I-c fOlgi,ocncsl of your offenses at God's
hand: for otherwise the recti,-ing of the holy Communion doth nothing
else but increase your condemnation. Thnd ore. if any of you be a
bbsphemer of Cod , an hinder er or slande rcr of his 'VOid , an adulterer,
or be in malice, or en"},, or in any other gric,'ous Clime; repent you of
your sins, or else come not 10 that holr Ta b1c. · ~
Another type of discipline, e~p r e ssed in canon la ..... and church
custom, provided a path by which troubled persons migh t make satisfa c­
tions and thus fi nd their way back into fellowsh ip with the church. T his
discipline became the condition and thc mcans of pastoral reconciliation,
yet it was designed for the al1e1"i3tion of trouble. :\1 limes the church
clearly marked the channels th rough wh ich mell and women who had
bruised and abused onc another could. under God, fin d their way together
again. The anc ient Canons of the Council of Nicaea in A.D. 325
provided tha t those who had been excomm unicated because of their
lapse under the persecution of Licinius were to do penance of three ~'e ar s '
"hearing," which meant that th c~' were 10 stand in the narthex of the
church during services and were not permitted to come into the main
sanctuary, Afterwards t h c~ ' were to do scven ~eari "kneeling"; they could
kneel during sen·iees within the nal'e amidst the standing congregation.
Then there was a pre~ cr ibcd period as "eo·slanders."· during which the
penitent could join normalk in the sen'ices wi lh o t hc t ~ , except that he
could not receil'e the sacrament of tile alt ar Finalh·, full reconciliation
was accomplished. ' Vhile the prol"isjons seem ha r ~h to us today, they
\\-"Cre in reality a fine ritual fo r reconciliation-commonly accepted procedures
by which the "" a ~ ' ",ard and straying could belong again to the
fellowsh ip of the ch urch.
lI. Forgiveness in Ch urch History. Reconciling as a fu nction of
the ministry of the cure of souls has had an interesting historical de·
velopment. It is helpful to mark its changes in emphasis through the
years, for its history gi\'es a perspective on present dilemmas and also
helps to clarify modern \'ocabulan' and concepts.
As early as the second epoch of Christian pastoring. and especially
III the writings of some of the classica l fathers, such as Origen and
ti T ht Book of Common P fO)·tf (Amerieanl. p. 8;.

The Four Pastoral Fu nctions
Teltullian, one discerns lour m~ill dements in p~ s toral reconciliation.
First there was preparation , or spiritual coume!, which might be given by
any Christian and was designed to help the believer decide whether or
not he needed the poten t medicine of public confession; jf so, the
counseling helped 111m prcpare for Ihe ordeal. Then followed the con·
fession itself, called "exomolo~e;iS. " or public confession before the entire
congregation [SEE EX HIBIT 2 . T hird, penance was done publicly and
openly before pagans and hristians alikc, During the time of the
penance, the pen iten t was e~co m mlln i c at ed from the central act of
Christian worship, the Eucharist. After a suitable penance had been
done, reconciliation 10 Cod and with the church was thought to have
been accomplished and the bishop rC(cived the sinner back in to communion
with prayer and a blessing.
The early church considered public confession before the congregation
as the norm, but the practicc was e!Oded by the reluctance on the
part of maLtY uf tin.: faith fu l to resort to iI. But beloTe the advent of the
penitentials, the center of interest and foclls in the act of reconciliation
was the confession itself. Tertu1\ian thought confession had enormous
therapeutic value_ With the coming of the pcnitentials. bowever. and
the consequent ~ hif t to priva tI: confession, tIle center of therapeutic
power was seen in the doing of penarlce [5[£ EXIIIBIT 7J- The early medieva!
penitential> assumed that the church through its priesthood was
wise and knowledgeable enough to diagnose and to assign the propel
remedy for spiri tual faults, but the substance of penitential medicine was
itself profane 3S we)] as sacred. The penitentials prescribed all kinds of
remedies for spiritual and \\"o d dl ~ ills. T hcse included p r a y e l ~, recitations,
po stur t: ~. dictary I{'Strictions, se ~l1al a b s tinen~. and so forth. and for very
grave offenscs, like murder. a peni tent might be assigned a penance of
living the remainder of his hie III a monastery. Normally the sinner
work~ out his own sah'ation in the alia irs of his dailv life.
By the thirteenth cen tnry, howe'·er. there gained ascendancy the
idea that thc sacrament of penance itself exercised a r econei lin~ power
that 1\'as \'csted in the church and dispensed b ~' its priesthood. When th is
happened. intercst focused on the last elemen t of forgiveness, which
became known as the absolutioll. ,\bsolution as a sacramental power was
itself the remed,', and penancc beca me no more thc medicine to lemedy
lin but a satisfaction for sin b,' \\hich the temporal penalties incurred by
misdoings wcrc shorteued or a'oided. The modern Roman Catholic
unde:standing of confeHlon has coniC to rcst on the idea that it is done
in order to obtain the 31»0lution. Pnimmer stated that "The essential
form of the sacrament of Confessi on" IS the "erbal formula, "I then
.bsolve you of your sins in the ,m ile of the Father. and of the Son, and
of the Hoi}' G host." ThiS sacrament " dl1l~ ' received" by the penitent. he
claimed, not onl:· effects "the remission of all sin and eternal punishment"
but "tht infusion (or iIl Cf C:lSC) of sanctifying grace, the virtues
"

60 Thp Foul P

The Four Pastoral FunctIOns 61
ministry of reconciling as a function of the cure of souls. Calvin returned
to Genel'a in 1541 01111' after he had been convinced by the city fathers
that they werc scrious' in their determination to make it a godly and
Christian ci ty. CeneI"J was to be a modcl of Protestant Christendom in
which Protestan t idea!> and understandrngs were to hold sway. There
were to be four classes of rnlni~ t ers: paslors, teachers, deacons, and elders.
The elders. who lI'ere to make "fraternal corrections," held a remarkable
place in the organizat ion of thc church and in Ihe administration of the
city; in them Cahill plOl ided fo r an ordc! of lay spiritual directors. The
elders were appointed br thc cit)" magishates and lVere to be selected
from the various di st ricts of the citl' on thc basis of their good character
and spiritual lI'isdom. Their task I~- a s 10 Ilatch OW!r the lives of all the
people and to guidc and lo\'ingl~ ' admonish tbe disorderly and erring.
Where it was neccssary, S\ronger measures could be employed in a
particularly difFi(ult case b~' e3l1me; in the CenCI'an church Consistory
fo r consultation and assistance. The ConsistorY included all the ministers
and the other elders: it was tbe principal organ of church discipline,
and over it Cail-in or Jilother minister presided r\'feNeill slated that
"\Veekly, on Thur s da~ mornings. offenders noted by the watchful elders
were haled b)' a po!.ec officer before the Consistory. They were often
privately counseled and admonished in ad,-ance b)' Calvin or another
minister." Then di~cussioll before the en tire Consistory would ensue and
appropriate conecti,'e meas ures would be taken for the good of the
offender. "The records of thc ConsiSIO IY and Ot the councils exhibit
extraordinary minuteness and va riet)" in the offemes reported for rorrection.
Non·attendance at church .. . hankering after medieval religious
practices . . . drunkenncss. gambling. profanil ~·. family alienations, wife
bea ting and adultcr:'" sholl' in the records. Like admonition, much of the
correction sough t to im itate the earh- Christ ian acts of penance. In many
instances. the prescribed remcd\' etiected a real (Drrection of behavior
and attitude and achieled reconciliation with G)d and fellow man.53
The Ceneva experiment was b~ - fJr the most interesting and creative
attempt in the Reformation to rel'il'e disciplinary reconciliation as a part
of the cure of souls. In no other Christian tradition has this mode of
reconciliation achielCd such refinement as it did with the Calvinists.
Discipline as a mode of the pastoral function of reconciling never·
theless encoun tered many failures in CenCI'a. el'en dming Calvin's tenure
as chief administrator of the church there. Discipline became narrow
Ind hardened until it degenerated into correction by legalism, while
personal admonition tended toward accusation. In the fint place, Calvin
could not conceil'e of the ch urch apart from an intimate connection
with the civil aut horities. Cenel'a was to be a li ttle Christendom with
~3 John T. /I.!c:\tl11 . . / he l-/illO')' ~,!d C~~'ac!", oi C~!vj"ism (New yo.k,
O~fo,d Unj'-~rll ly I're», 19 , ;) .1'. 16,. By I"'[million,

62 Tht Four Pastoral Fundion,
built-in lines of .:mthority ~nd responsibility bct.\'een the church and
government. Structurallr there was little distinction between concerns
for individual needs and concern s for the peace, order, and good morals
of the city. The aim of ind ividual growth tended to be subordinated to
claims of institutional maintenance. !\forcO\"cr, C enc\,:m church life was
harassed and threatened in ;I world full of turmoil and contention, and it
was not able to tolera te the a n~ic ty which accompanies any serious attempt
to make room for human failure in the intcrest not only of
humaneness but of healing and growth. CenCI-an Cah·joists we~ always
tempted to clamp down on situations when therapeutic interests called
for patience and :lexibillty. F ina l1~· . Gene"a tried to soke its disciplinary
dilemmas by baniihment, incarceration. and el'en burning.
The left wing of the Reforma tion. including the Congregationalists,
Baptists, Quakers, and, later. the \ 'Iethodists, laid stress on the mutual
usponsibility of the members of the church for each other's physical and
spiritual welfare. ~'l od c rn p ro t~ ta nti s m has often rightly been accused
of excessive ind i,~d ua ] i s m; howel·cr. at va rious times in the course of
history, all these left·win g grOllps have shown ~ lil'ely and serious interest
in open confession before either the en tire congrega tion or various groups
within the membership. The group. dler hearing the confession, would
then pool its wisdom and concern for the conection and restoration of
the erring brother. The early :\ lethodists were especially interested in this
form of group therapy. Out of the ir "classes" and "societies" certain
individuals were drawn together under "a more strictI}' remedial disci·
pline." Into the "b:lI11ds" were in,·ited "people who especially 'needed to
pour out their hearts' to one another .. .. Each member, begin ning
with the leader, was to con fess his fau lts and temptations and the state of
his soul, and to accept criticism. In Older to be admitted to the glOup
each had to declare his desire to be told all his fa ults, even if this should
'cut to the quick .' "$4
It was left·wing protestantism which was able br and large to mo,'C
beyond theoretical formulations o f a priesthood of all believers to a
reconciling ministry of pastoral calc pe rformed by the la it~ ·, as an integral
part of the formal life of the congregation. The following excerpts ale
taken from the records of [\Jount Tabor Baptist Church in Kentucky:
Th ild Sa tu rday in Ju l~' 1S03,
The Church met and after wOlship. proceeded to do business; 1st A
report was bro' ag~ in!t SiSler Alnett. for drinking too much, and it ap·
pears she is guilt)', we therefore. appoint Sistcrs Baugh, Philips, and
Clad, to cite her to our next meeting ....
$ ' John T. McNeill, A Hi.to..,· of tht CII't of Sollli ( :-': ~ .... Yo.\; : H up~ md
Row, Publish~ ' $, Jncorpomred. 1951 ]. p. 2i9. B!' pcrm'lSion.

The Four Pastoral "'unctions 63
Third F Ti d~)' in August 1803
The Church met .lind after wOlShip proceeded to business, ht The
committee appointed to labour wIth .lind cite sister Arnett to this
meeting, Report ther ~cted agreab1e to the order of the Church, and say
she appear,d to be humble, and , ery sorry for what she had done,
therefore the Church restore her 10 fellowship! . l~~
IV, Modern Desuetude of Reconciling. There .lire many indica·
tions that the function of reconciling 3S a creative and meaningful part
of Christian p3stor~ 1 care has fall en UJXln e\"il days. Perhaps more than
the other three fu nct ions of the cure of souls, reconciling has suffered
from misunderstanding and erosion.
In his prol'oca!i"e and helpful b001;, Preface to Pastoral Theology,
Seward Hiltner argued that the min istry of reconciliation, which he
C

Thf Four Pastoral Functions
Christ is no more for holiness than Sa tan, or that the Christian religion
exaeteth holiness no more than the false religions of the \.\'orld."~7
In the Ciltholie tradit io n. reconciling hils tended 10 be thought of
at times not so much as ~ means 10 keep the congrega tion unspotted, but
rather as quid pro quo punishment. This tendene\" was especially notice·
able when, by commutation of pcn~n ce . p l'n~1t;e~ wcre compressed in to
briefcr and more tokra ble ones, and when b ~ ' composition the terms of
the penance were com·erted into money payments. '·By the tenth cen·
tury commutation and composition we re \\"idel~· accepted as normal
elements in penance."~B
Both the Protestant and Catholic developments here noted are,
indeed, antithetical to reconciling as a legitimate mode of the cure of
souls. In protestantism, reconciling in the mode of discipline has been
discredited by excesses and failures of the Call·inistic s~ · s t e m. The Cath·
olic Inquisition, too, was an e~periment in chlllch discipline as a mode
of pastoral reconciling which the \Vestern \\"OIld at iaTge has looked upon
with revulsion. Fashioned in the tll irteenth centur\· for detection and
suppression of heres y.
this movement enlisted inquisitors who ap·
proached sinners and heretics in the hope that the\· might be cured of
their errors and returned to the fold of the faithful rSEE E1Cluarr Il J.
Eventually it collapsed as a humane and 6t instrument for reconciling,
in large part owing to pastoral pride. T hinking themselves acting only
for the salvation of the souls of Ihe accused. inquisi tors felt warranted in
d ispensing with rigorous legal codes for de~l i ng with persons charged
with heresy or error. Thus, torture and even death could be resorted to
as appropriate stratagems b\· which to deal with the principalities of
darkness that engulfed ceflJ in sOtlh. lronical1 ~·. had the iudge

The Four P(IS!oral Flmclions 6,
required each of its fait hful to say his confession at lust once each year
to his own parish priest, the tradition of absolute secrecy was in full force.
Canon 21 of the Fourth La teran Council, which made this practice
binding throughout \\'estem C hristendom. sti pulated that every believer
who had reached the age of discret ion m ust make a full annual con·
fession of his sins to the local r ric)t and must perform his penance
dutifully. Failure to cOlllply Ililh this prol'ision, and with its accompany·
ing rule requiring al least annu~l Communion. res ulted in banishment
from the church and in plOlubit ion of Christian burial. Only with the
local parish pricst's perm inion might a belic"cr makc his confession to
an outside priest, \\"h o othcrwise cou ld not absolve him. Any priest who
revealed by word or srgn II ha t hdd bcen cOllfessed to bim earned for
himself the seo-'ereSI ccclcSlasticd l penal lies.'"
Regardless of the p.HficuiJr circU!ll\ t~ nces Ihal evoked these stric·
tures, the ministry of paSIOr;&1 forgrn:uns has paid heavily for the fa ct
thai Ihcy made il impoSSIble for Iprrltual !:uides to learn their art from
the records of speci fic cases of ,econciling b ~ ' forgiveness. The fact that
the modern helping professions h~ "e becn able to share and transmit
wisdom gained in concrcte cxperience has been a priceless possession.
Only so-by learning from oetllal expoCriences of masters-can apprentices
become iourne~ men . In these modt;fl1 professions, the more difficult
cases can have the benefit of poolcd lI"i)do111: especially talented practi·
tioners can be certified and unqualified ones can be debarred-all because
of a freedom from absolutc secrcC\ th~ 1 does not violate confidences. The
result of the church's r igidi t~ · in th is mattc! has been that, on the C ath·
olic side, penance contirr ues to be a for mJlizoo affair done in 11 ra ther
perfunctory ma nner b,' the mass of tht fai thful. while, 011 the Protestant
aide, only a handful of c h ar isma ti c al1~ gifted persons are able to be cre·
. tive confessors.
In rcspouse to the cb llr ch') dileuunas in rega rd to the reconciling
mi nistry, a pW"ocati"e \'oice has been u ise

66 Tht Four Pastoral Fun ctions
toral care is obvious. There is no place in the structure and rhythm of the
life of modem congregations where a serious d iSCllssion concerning the
state of one's soul is expected. At one time confession and penance in
the Catholic tradition, and in the Protest.nt chuTch the pastor's periodic
inquiry about one's readiness for the Communion, served that purpo$e.
The clergyman met his ~ople for a kind of (olll"ersalion that did not
mistake itself for idle chit-chat or organization talk but concerned itself
with the current ismes of the \I'orld and one's place in it as a Christian.
With the loss of Ihis role. the dergyman must extemporize as he goes
along. This is not an jmposs ibilit~ -, but it requires special ~lSOnal gifts.
In this situation many ckTg~ men feel decpl~ thai much of the counseling
they do puts them in the class of the amateur psychiatrist or social
..... orker. Part of the reason for this an~iet~ · ma~ · be the f~ling that usual
padonl routines provide no co nt~ct with aliena ted people face to face
in situations that define the minister as one who is alerted to and talented
in a certain kind of spiritual convcnation that c~n knit together broken
bonds between God and man. This e~tempori7.ing \"irtuall)· deprives the
church of its ministry of pastoral reconciling at a time ..... hen alienation
is at the root of much human woe and an~iety.