Renewing Pastoral Practice

Neil Pembroke teaches in the religion and psychology area at the University of Queensland, Australia. Prior to this he lectured in pastoral care and counselling at the Adelaide College of Divinity and the School of Theology, Flinders University. Over the past five years he has delivered papers at a number of conferences on topics such as the moral context of pastoral counselling, personal presence in spiritual direction, and the metaphor of hospitality in counselling and in Christian community. Prior to his academic career, he was engaged in parish ministry for eight years. Books published include Working Relationships: Spirituality in Human Service and Organisational Life, The Art of Listening: Dialogue, Shame, and Pastoral Care.

• Introduction, Neil Pembroke; Part 1 Setting the Scene, Neil Pembroke; Chapter 1 The Renewal of the Doctrine of the Trinity Relationality and Triune ‘Marks’, Neil Pembroke; Part 2 Trinity and the General Ministry of Care, Neil Pembroke; Chapter 2 Pastoral Care as Polyphony, Neil Pembroke; Chapter 3 Hospitality in Pastoral Ministry, Neil Pembroke; Chapter 4 Community and Spiritual Friendship, Neil Pembroke; Part 3 Trinity and Pastoral Counselling, Neil Pembroke; Chapter 5 Building the Counselling Alliance, Neil Pembroke; Chapter 6 Empathy, Communion and Identity, Neil Pembroke; Chapter 7 Mirroring as an Act of Love, Neil Pembroke; Part 4 Concluding with Theodicy, Neil Pembroke; Chapter 8 The Trinity and Suffering, Neil Pembroke;

’Standing between being caught up in the vision of God and being aware of human dynamics is one of the most important places to be, and no reader can fail to be stimulated by these reflections from that meeting place.’ Crucible ’Neil Pembroke has courageously done what many of us in the field of pastoral theology have not dared and that is to seriously engage with that most elusive of doctrines, the Trinity, and its implications for the theory and practice of the ministry of care. Moreover, he has succeeded in doing this in a most creative and grounded way, informed by his and others’ reflective pastoral practice. Pembroke’s undoubted flair for developing creative descriptions of the concepts at the heart of his Trinitarian pastoral theology enables him to fulfil his book’s main aim. This was not just to show that the doctrine of the Trinity has relevance for pastoral care and counselling, but to reveal how engagement with Trinitarian theology 'has the capacity to renew our vision of the ministry of care.'’ Journal of Practical Theology