Pastoral Care

Pastoral care covers the range of counseling and support provided by clergy and licensed religious leaders for the emotional and spiritual wellbeing of others. Pastors, chaplains, and others involved in ministries of care and compassion will find these resources helpful.

When initiating searches in the library's online catalog or databases, the following search terms may be helpful:

•   Pastoral care 
•   Pastoral counseling 
•   Pastoral psychology 
•   Pastoral theology 
•  Theology, Practical

These subject headings relate to pastoral care and counseling of specific groups of people:

• Children
  • Children -- Pastoral counseling of
  • Church work with children
  • Youth -- Pastoral counseling of
  • Church work with youth
  • Teenagers -- Pastoral counseling of
  • Church work with teenagers
  • Abused children -- Pastoral counseling of
  • Sexually abused children -- Pastoral counseling of
  • Problem youth -- Pastoral counseling of
  • Church work with students
• Adults
  • Older people -- Pastoral counseling of
  • Church work with older people
  • Church work with young adults
  • Adult child sexual abuse victims -- Pastoral counseling of
  • Divorced people -- Pastoral counseling of
  • Remarried people -- Pastoral counseling of
• Men
  • Men -- pastoral counseling of
  • Church work with men
  • Abusive men -- pastoral counseling of
  • Church work with abusive men
• Women
  • Women -- Pastoral counseling of
  • Church work with women
  • Abused women -- Pastoral counseling of
  • Church work with abused women
• Families
  • Family -- Pastoral counseling of
  • Church work with families
  • Church work with African American families
  • Church work with dysfunctional families
• Racial or Ethnic Groups
  • African Americans -- Pastoral counseling of
  • Church work with African Americans
  • Minorities -- Pastoral counseling of
  • Church work with minorities
• LGBTQIA Persons
  • Gays -- Pastoral counseling of
  • Church work with gays
• Victims
  • Sexual abuse victims -- Pastoral counseling of
  • Church work with victims of crimes
• Persons with Illness or Disability
  • Church work with the sick
  • Sick -- Pastoral counseling of
  • Chronically ill -- Pastoral counseling of
  • Pastoral care of people with disabilities
  • Depressed persons -- Pastoral counseling of
  • Hospital patients -- Pastoral counseling of
  • Mentally ill -- Pastoral counseling of
  • Church work with the mentally ill
  • Patients -- Pastoral counseling of
  • ​Terminally ill -- Pastoral counseling of
  • Church work with the terminally ill

Many of the books on pastoral care may be found by browsing the following call numbers:

• BV 4011 - Pastoral theology
• BV 4012 - Pastoral counseling

General resources in our collection include:

•  Dictionary of Pastoral Care and Counseling edited by Rodney J. Hunter, REF BV 4011.3 .D53 2005
•  Clinical Handbook of Pastoral Counseling edited by Robert J. Wicks et al., BV 4012.2 .C54 1993
•  A Dictionary of Pastoral Care edited by Alastair V. Campbell, REF BV 4012.2 .D57
•  Taking Care: Monitoring Power Dynamics and Relational Boundaries in Pastoral Care and Counseling by Carrie Doehring, BV 4012.2 .D64 1995
•  Basic Types of Pastoral Care & Counseling: Resources for the Ministry of Healing and Growth by Howard Clinebell, BV 4012.2 .C528 2011
•  Feminist and Womanist Pastoral Theology edited by Bonnie J. Miller-McLemore and Brita L. Gill-Austern, BV 4011 .F42 1999
•  The Blackwell Reader in Practical and Pastoral Theology edited by James Woodward and Stephen Pattison, BV 4011 .B54 2000
•  Women in Travail and Transition: A New Pastoral Care edited by Maxine Glaz & Jeanne Stevenson Moessner, BV 4445 .W65 1991
•  Black Families in Therapy: A Multisystems Approach by Nancy Boyd-Franklin, RC 451.5 .N4 B69 1989
•  Many Voices: Pastoral Psychotherapy in Relational and Theological Perspective by Pamela Cooper-White, BV 4012 .C66 2007
•  Introducing Feminist Pastoral Care and Counseling by Nancy J. Gorsuch, BV 4011.3 .G67 2001
•  In Her Own Time: Women and Developmental Issues in Pastoral Care edited by Jeanne Stevenson Moessner, BV 4445 .I5 2000
•  Survival and Liberation: Pastoral Theology in African American Context by Carroll A. Watkins Ali, BV 4011 .A45 1999

There are a few periodicals that publish regularly about pastoral care:

•  Pastoral Psychology. Print issues 1950-2010 (v.1-59) are available at the library; full text 1997-present (1-year delay) is available to Lancaster Seminary students, faculty, and staff.
•  Journal of Pastoral Theology. Print issues 1991-2012 (v.1-22) are available at the library; full text 1991-present (1-year delay) is available to Lancaster Seminary students, faculty, staff, and alumni/ae.
•  Journal of Pastoral Care & Counseling. Print issues 2002-2014 (v.56-68) are available at the library; full text 2002-present (1-year delay) is available to Lancaster Seminary students, faculty, staff, and alumni/ae.
•  Journal of Religion and Health. Print issues 1961-2009 (v.1-48) are available at the library; full text 1961-present (3-year delay) is available to Lancaster Seminary students, faculty, and staff.
•  Journal of Health Care Chaplaincy. Print issues 1987-2014 (v.1-20) are available at the library; full text 1997-present is available to Lancaster Seminary students, faculty, and staff.
• International Journal of Practical Theology. Full text 1997-present is available to Lancaster Seminary students, faculty, and staff; full text 1997-present (2-year delay) is available to Lancaster Seminary alumni/ae.

A few website resources on this topic are:

• The Academy of Parish Clergy
• Association for Clinical Pastoral Education