The first comprehensive resource for spiritual and pastoral caregivers a vital resource for clergy, seminarians, chaplains, pastoral counselors and caregivers of all faith traditions.

This essential resource integrates the classic foundations of pastoral care with the latest approaches to spiritual care. It is specifically intended for professionals who work or spend time with congregants in acute care hospitals, behavioral health facilities, rehabilitation centers and long-term care facilities.

Offering the latest theological perspectives and tools, along with basic theory and skills from the best pastoral and spiritual care texts, research and concepts, the contributors to this resource are experts in their fields, and include eight current or past presidents of the major chaplaincy organizations."

Chaplaincy has emerged as a highly significant form of ministry in the twenty-first century, and chaplaincy studies is growing as a field of study that learns from the experience and work of chaplains in their diverse sectors. Chaplains from a range of different faith traditions pioneer ministry within the secular yet religiously plural contexts of contemporary life with often considerable creativity and skill, generating a wealth of insight to be gleaned for understanding the place of faith in the modern world. One of the disciplines that has been most concerned with gleaning those insights and developing the field of chaplaincy studies is practical theology. The journal Practical Theology (formerly Contact) is a key repository for much of the wisdom gained through such study, and this book draws on the archive of the journal to trace the development of chaplaincy research and provide a resource for those seeking to join the conversation about the nature and significance of chaplaincy as a form of ministry and mission today. Drawing on different sectors of chaplaincy and different methodological approaches, this book is invaluable for those engaged in chaplaincy work, those seeking to research that work, and for anyone interested in contemporary, pioneering forms of ministry.

The first comprehensive resource for pastoral care in the face of disaster—a vital resource for clergy, seminarians, pastoral counselors and caregivers of all faith traditions. Updated and expanded! This essential resource for clergy and caregivers integrates the classic foundations of pastoral care with the unique challenges of disaster response on community, regional and national levels. Offering the latest theological perspectives and tools—along with basic theory and skills from the best disaster response texts, research and concepts—the contributors to this resource are innovators in their fields and represent Christianity, Judaism, Islam and more. New to this edition are chapters on: N-VOAD Points of Consensus and Guidelines—A Developing Conversation Ethics in Disaster Spiritual Care Assessment Developing a Theological Framework for Providing Disaster Spiritual Care And More Exploring how spiritual care changes following a disaster, and including a comprehensive explanation of a disaster's lifecycle, this is the definitive guidebook for counseling not only the victims of disaster but also the clergy and caregivers who are called to service in the wake of crisis.