pastoral care in historical perspective - Bishopdale Theological ...

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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
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