612 - Worship as Pastoral Care

Worship as Pastoral Care
By William H. Willimon
Nashville, Abingdon, 1979. 237 pp. $9.95.

The author, who teaches at Duke Divinity School, presents his own case best. "Here begins a dialogue," he writes, "between the disciplines of pastoral care, practical theology, biblical and historical studies, psychology, and the liturgy, with the liturgy determining the ultimate significance of the conversation" (p. 30). Not at all content to view pastoral counseling as a simple synonym for pastoral care, Willimon

613 - Worship as Pastoral Care

treats the liturgical life of the church as a "major, if recently neglected, aspect of pastoral care" (p. 47).

The first four chapters set the author's premise-the demonstration of the symbiotic relationship between worship and pastoral care. The next four contain explorations of specific worship occasions-funerals, weddings, baptisms, and the observance of the Lord's Supper. The final chapter, entitled "Liturgy and Leadership: Priest and Pastor" is, in essence, a discussion of ordination (but not ordinations) and a theology of ordained ministry. At the end of virtually every chapter, the author has provided a case-study with which he attempts to illustrate the central issue discussed in the chapter. (This strikes me as a good idea although it does not seem to work in every instance.)

It is gratifying to see the author's concern to avoid suggesting that worship ought to be done (read "manipulated") in such a way as to achieve the ends of pastoral care. Rather, he is clear that good liturgy, in and of itself, provides pastoral care, healing, restoration of persons and relationships, maintenance of community, etc. (Originally, upon seeing the book's title, I feared that the opposite might be the case.) At the same time, as chapters five through eight illustrate, a richer theological/psychological understanding of worship can certainly enhance the extent to which pastoral care is experienced in worship.

The strongest chapter is that dealing with the funeral. Willimon's use of the van Gennep's pattern for rites of passage (separation, transition, reintegration) is instructive and his observation that the purpose of a funeral "is … the same as for any service of Christian worship: to worship God" (p. 115) is clearly right on the mark. Similar claims are rightly made about weddings as well.

On the other hand, the weakest chapter to my mind is the third, dealing with "motivation for worship" and "diagnosis in worship." The seven diagnostic "variables" (adapted from Paul Pruyser) seem to me far too remote or amorphous to serve any really useful purpose for analyzing congregational worship.

One aspect of the book as a whole to be appreciated is Willimon's affirmation of the centrality of ritual practice and symbolic interpretation for the life of the church. In his chapter on the Lord's Supper, the treatment of the function of ritual within a community is very useful. (As other readers will discover, what Willimon says has been said before. It needs reiteration, however, to new audiences in the hope of seeing it lodged in the practice of the church.)

Turning to matters of a different sort, three issues need to be mentioned. First, in a book such as this, one would rightly expect at least a brief treatment of liturgical language. From my point of view, some acknowledgment of the destructive character of exclusive (sexist) liturgical language for the life of the Christian community would have given additional integrity to Willimon's work. (He is generally careful in his own language.)

Secondly, the final chapter raises two kinds of puzzles. Is it true, as

614 - Worship as Pastoral Care

the author seems to suggest, that ordination is no more than the conferring of a community function? Some readers (myself included) will want to engage the author on this matter. But such conversation would have as its aim precisely the same intention as Willimon's own discussion, i.e., the association of the priest/pastor with the community. Also, and simply as an aside, it seems almost odd for a book of Methodist origins to take priestliness and the language of priesthood as a central metaphor, especially at a time when some Christian communities, in which priestly language has been the norm, are beginning to set them aside.

The other puzzle raised by the chapter is the narrowness of the author's understanding of liturgical leadership. In addition to being in the liturgy, "leadership" also includes liturgical education within the congregation, planning, training of liturgical ministers, and the preparation of both the physical facilities and oneself. All of these can be-indeed, ought to be-perceived by the pastor as dimensions of both liturgical leadership and pastoral care.

All of which is to say that Worship as Pastoral Care is a book to be read, considered, and used. It affirms the centrality of worship, the vitality of the Christian community, and the need for strong pastoral/priestly leadership, and it does so with clarity. At the same time, and it nettles me to say it, I do wish the book contained fewer split infinitives-especially the one on the last page, "-to boldly and expectantly lead. . . ." The book is well presented by the publishers and should prove useful in both parishes and theological schools.

William S. Adams
Vancouver School of Theology
Vancouver, British Columbia