Pastoral Care in Worship

Neil Pembroke is Senior Lecturer in Pastoral Studies, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Edinburgh. His books include The Art of Listening (2002), Renewing Pastoral Practice (2006), and Moving Toward Spiritual Maturity (2007)Neil Pembroke is a lecturer in pastoral care, School of Theology, Flinders University of South Australia and the Adelaide College of Divinity.

• Introduction Part 1: Reconciliation 1. Confessions of a Sly Psyche 2. Shame, Confession, and God's Affirming Gaze Part 2: Lament 3. Asserting Ourselves Before God 4. Praying our Anger Part 3: Hope 5. Hope Needs Witnesses 6. Hopes Needs an Ironic Imagination Part 4: Communion 7. Individualization, Christianization, and the Sacraments 8. Maintaining Self in Communion Bibliography

There are other books on the place and role of pastoral concerns in worship, but none come even close to what author Pembroke achieves here. By identifying four central themes of pastoral concern in weekly congregational worship-reconciliation, lament, hope, and communion---and bringing psychological insights to bear on each, he shows how theological and biblical understandings of these themes may touch the struggles and longings that we bring with us to the worship hour. The book demonstrates how worship affords many opportunities for us to open ourselves to God and thereby enable God to become accessible to us. Each chapter concludes with liturgical illustrations that encourage an encounter between our selves and God that is open, honest, and true. Many books address the problem of how to revitalize the worship service itself. This book, however, addresses our hope that worshiping together will revitalize us by emancipating our hearts and minds from shame, anger, disappointment, distress and the need for moral pretence. Pastoral Care in Worship is a thoughtful and enlightening testimony to the fact that worship has the power to open our hearts, to liberate our minds, and to heal our souls.