Pastoral Theology for Public Ministry

What does it mean to be engaged in Christian ministry in a shifting spiritual and religious landscape? Stephen Burns invites readers to think anew about the distinctiveness of public practices of pastoral presence. Rather than narrowly dening pastoral care and pastoral theology (pastoral counseling, preaching, youth groups, visits to elders, etc.) and theological academic categories (history, pastoral theology, liturgy, ethics, and contemporary sociology), he argues for a new imagination and practice of pastoral presence a presence that is representative, public, integrated, and expansive. For seminary introductory pastoral care and pastoral theology courses; those practicing Christian ministry; those seeking to understand more about what clergy and lay ministers do.