The contribution of clinical pastoral education to pastoral ministry in South Africa : overview and critique of its method and dynamic, in view of adaptation and implementation in a cross cultural context.

Abstract

Training and pastoral supervision in Christian ministry has been in existence prominently since the 1920s, when the development of pastoral education as a distinct discipline and function of ministry arose out of Clinical Pastoral Education. Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) has as it focus the professional education for ministry. This brings students of theology, ordained clergy, qualified laypersons and members of religious orders into supervised encounter with "living human documents" in order to develop their pastoral identity, interpersonal professional competence, and spirituality; including the skills of pastoral care and counselling, pastoral assessment, integration of theology and ministry, group leadership and pastoral theological reflection. The founders of Clinical Pastoral Education, Anton Boisen, William Keller and Richard Cabot, all from the East coast of the United States of America, adapted the methods of professional education in psychiatry, medicine and social work respectively. Some years later Seward Hiltner established a primary identity with theological education and ecumenical Christianity. A survey of literature from the 1960s shows a vitality and variety among CPE supervisors along with research and publications of theologians of note. These influential theologians are Don Browning, John Patton, Charles Gerkin and Steven Pattison to name a few. CPE originated in the USA and spread to Europe and Australia, but does not fit easily into the culture and methods of ministry training in South Africa. For CPE to be valid it must incorporate the cross-cultural customs and traditions in its context. The difficulties with CPE in South Africa centre on some components at the core of the process, and its paradoxical nature within the learning experience with regard to language, gender issues and questions of length and context. These and other specified difficulties open the discussion on the need for adaptation if CPE is to be successfully implemented in the South African context. Important as CPE is in pastoral ministerial training, it is recognised that it is not the only method of training and education in a cross-cultural context. This thesis explores and critiques the methods of CPE and argues that transplanting a process of education, albeit apparently successful, from overseas is not necessarily acceptable in a cross-cultural society. It is suggested that transformation along with a new model for the South African CPE process is necessary, taking into account the diversity of local African cultures. Existing theories, beliefs of CPE and current literature have been explored and applied to and tested in the South African situation. This thesis presents the results in the form of a design of a new model.