425 - How Pastoral Theology Functions

"The task of facilitating the interaction between academic theology and pastoral ministry belongs in a preeminent way to pastoral theology."

How Pastoral Theology Functions
By Robert L. Kinast

DESPITE a growing awareness that academic theology and pastoral ministry are reciprocally related, there remains a problem in knowing precisely how to relate the two. In what ways can the contributions of each to the other be made? The aim of the present article is to address this problematic from the vantage point of pastoral theology since the task of facilitating the interaction between academic theology and pastoral ministry belongs in a preeminent way to pastoral theology, at least as it is being defined and practiced today.¹

I want to review some representative definitions of pastoral theology in order to indicate why this is the appropriate locus for the integration of academic theology and pastoral ministry. Next, I will describe one approach to this integration analogous to the use of parallel process in supervision. Finally, I will illustrate how pastoral theology, working from this approach, may actually function. One illustration relates academic theology to pastoral ministry, and the other relates pastoral ministry to academic theology. These illustrations are meant, therefore, to be a brief exercise of pastoral theology itself.

I. Pastoral Theology Today

Pastoral theology, as formerly understood, referred to those principles and skills a pastor needed to fulfill the primary duties of the ministry: preaching, catechizing/evangelizing, liturgizing

Robert L. Kinast is an ordained Catholic priest with a doctorate from Emory University, now serving in the Pastoral Center under the Department of Theology of Catholic University, Washington, D.C. He is chairman of the D.Min. program and among many articles he has written for various journals is "Preparing Clergy for the New Laity'" ( THEOLOGY TODAY, Oct. 1979).
¹ For some recent discussion on this point see Thomas McKenna, "Academic or Pastoral Theology: A False Dilemma," The Priest, 34 (January 1978), 10-14; John Ford, "Discrimination, Desegregation, or Integration: Academic Theology and Pastoral Theology," Review for Religious, 37 (1978), 414-432.

426 - How Pastoral Theology Functions

managing, caring for the troubled, the sick, the penitent, the bereaved.² The term is still often used indiscriminately to mean pastoral counseling or pastoral care, but pastoral theology seeks to be understood and practiced as a theological exercise.

Karl Rahner has argued for this view as forcefully as anyone in the Roman Catholic Church.³ According to Rahner, pastoral theology (or practical theology, as he prefers) is not limited to the work of the clergy but extends to everything which the church as such has to do. This leads to the conclusion that practical theology is both a discipline in its own right and a constitutive dimension of all the other theological disciplines. As an individual discipline, pastoral theology takes up the task of comprehending the present situation in which the church finds itself (an ecclesial existentiell) and in relation to which the church must actualize itself. This is different from doing the work of sociology, economics, psychology, cultural anthropology, and the like, because it is an assessment of the findings of these disciplines from an ecclesial, faith perspective supplied in large part, at least in a critical form, by theology.

As a constitutive dimension of all other theological disciplines, pastoral theology acts as a critical conscience, helping theology to shape its agenda and formulate its conclusions in conscious relation to the world in which it lives. At the same time, pastoral theology seeks to draw out the inherent practical orientation of theological research and insight thereby helping the church to plan its pastoral enactment, and in this sense apply theology to the pastoral scene.

A similar description of pastoral theology is given by John Shea who outlines a general approach to pastoral theology which involves three stages: identifying and elaborating paradigmatic experiences of individuals or groups, bringing up the Christian tradition to illuminate and direct the paradigmatic experiences, and elaborating a style and strategy of action that enable the experiences to be deepened.⁴

In a subsequent article, Shea stresses the need to specify and localize pastoral tasks and suggests three abilities that will aid in doing so: helping abilities, change-agent abilities, and theological abilities. The overall task is one of relating "concrete human situations to the inherited Christian symbols and their theological interpretations."⁵ The

² Typical of this attitude are the manuals of pastoral theology such as William Stang, Pastoral Theology (New York: Benzinger Bros.) 1897; Frederick Schulze, A Manual of Pastoral Theology (St. Louis: B. Herder and Co., Inc.) 1944; Henry Davis, Moral and Pastoral Theology (New York: Sheed and Ward) 1935.
³ Rahner's explicit view of pastoral theology is found in Theology for Pastoral Action (New York: Herder and Herder, 1968); "The New Claims Which Pastoral Theology Makes on Theology as a Whole," Theological Investigations, XI (New York: Seabury Press, 1974), pp. 115-137; "Practical Theology Within the Totality of Theological Disciplines," Theological Investigations, IX (London: Darton, Longman, and Todd, Ltd., 1974), pp. 101-117.
⁴ John Shea, "An Approach to Pastoral Theology," Chicago Studies, 12 (Spring, 1973), pp. 15-29.
⁵ John Shea, "Doing Ministerial Theology: A Skills Approach," Toward Vatican III.The Work that Must Be Done, ed. David Tracy, et al. (New York: Seabury Press, 1977), p. 189.

427 - How Pastoral Theology Functions

theological ability in this scheme may operate in at least four ways: (a) hearing the religious dimensions when articulated in secular language and responding with Christian religious perception; (b) hearing explicitly theological questions and responding with accurate theology; (c) hearing an assumptive world and responding by surfacing it; (d) hearing the relation between the Christian story and concrete activity and responding in the formulation of programs.

Of course, in 1958 Seward Hiltner had already defined pastoral theology as "that branch or field of theological knowledge and inquiry that brings the shepherding perspective to bear upon all the operations and functions of the church and the minister, and then draws conclusions of a theological order from reflection on these observations."⁶ In this definition the locus is the shepherding experience understood as a particular vantage point or perspective. This perspective, together with the communicating and organizing perspectives, constitute the operation-centered areas of theology.

Shepherding relates directly to the logic-centered fields of classical theological study (biblical, historical, doctrinal, moral). The outcome of this relation is to formulate theological answers to the theological questions raised from the shepherding perspective in such a way that the answers contribute to the primary shepherding functions: healing, guiding, sustaining.

According to definitions of pastoral theology such as these, there is a mutual interaction between the experiential situation and theological reflection; concrete experience is the starting point and effective pastoral ministry of the church is the goal. Neither theology nor pastoral ministry may function in isolation if pastoral theology is understood in this way. More than that, both theology and pastoral ministry must function in an integral manner, according to the nature of each. Their integrity is required by this concept of pastoral theology because each includes the other as an essential moment of its own development. Thus, for pastoral theology to occur, theology must be theology and pastoral ministry must be pastoral ministry, but always in relation to each other.

II. PARALLEL PROCESS

This constitutes one of the key challenges for pastoral theology (or any theological reflection based on ministerial experience), because for the most part academic theologians and pastoral ministers determine their agendas separately and differently and proceed with them on the basis of their own internal methods and goals. Anyone attempting to integrate the two is called upon to act in a sort of mediating role, trying to facilitate genuine communication for everyone's benefit. Ideally such communication would be facilitated by a pastoral theologian (hereafter

⁶ Seward Hiltner, Preface to Pastoral Theology (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1958), p. 20.

428 - How Pastoral Theology Functions

referred to as a theological reflector) through direct exchanges between academic theologians and pastoral ministers.⁷

When this is not possible, and it usually is not, some other approach is needed. The approach suggested here is inspired by the experience of parallel process as it appears in professional supervision.⁸ As applied to the present topic, parallel process suggests three operations: identifying the parallels in theology and ministry; clarifying how theologians or ministers handle the parallel in their own situation; indicating how the theologian and minister would likely communicate with one another on the basis of how they communicate with the theological reflector.

The role of the theological reflector would be to facilitate the communication, somewhat in the manner of a professional supervisor, the assumption being that the way a theologian or minister communicates with the theological reflector is very likely the way a theologian would communicate with a minister and vice versa.⁹ The quality of this communication is of primary value in any exchange that takes place and very largely determines the effect of the interaction. In the present case, after identifying the parallels, a theological reflector would draw upon available, objective records to carry out the second and third operations.¹⁰

III. ILLUSTRATION 1: PLURALISM

To illustrate bow a parallel process might work in this context, I would like to examine a problem which the pastoral minister faces and to assume, hypothetically, that the minister looks to the theologian for some help in dealing with it. Of course, a theological reflector can also

⁷ At the Catholic University of America the academic position currently held by the author was created in 1977 precisely to facilitate the interaction between academic and pastoral faculties and between pastoral supervisors and ministerial students in field placement. Similar positions now exist on the faculties of Virginia Theological Seminary and the Washington Theological Union.
⁸ See Rudolf Eckstein and Robert S. Wallerstein, The Teaching and Learning of Psychotherapy (New York: Basic Books, Inc., 1958), pp. 177-96. When therapists, for example, are being supervised, their interaction with the supervisor often parallels their interaction with the client. The therapist's selection of issues from the data which the client presents parallels the issues which are personally important for the therapist. More significantly, the way the therapist feels about and deals with those issues with the supervisor is indicative of the way the therapist communicates in helping the client deal with them.
⁹ In supervision, if the therapist deals positively with the issues (e.g., through honesty, sensitivity, realism), the supervisor utilizing the parallel process can reinforce these elements which can then enhance the therapist's relationship with the client. If the therapist deals negatively with the issues (e.g., through avoidance, manipulation, transference), the supervisor utilizing the parallel process can draw attention to this fact which can then become less of an obstacle in the therapist's relationship with the client. The same type of facilitation is envisioned in the case of pastoral theological reflection.
¹⁰ The use of objective records of experience (verbatim, case study, critical incident) is a standard method in the supervisory process, but the records are accounts of actual exchanges between supervisee and client. In the analogy being drawn here, the records of experience would be available, but they would not likely be based on actual discussions between academic theologians and pastoral ministers.

429 - How Pastoral Theology Functions

initiate such a discussion, recognizing problems or needs which are not being satisfied and suggesting how parallels can be helpful to either academic theologians or pastoral ministers. The problem in view may be generically described as that of pluralism, and its occurrence in pastoral ministry may be presented to the academic theologian as follows:¹¹

(1) Pastoral Person. The primary evidence of pluralism in relation to the pastoral person is that there are several models of pastoring currently in use. There is a canonical model whereby pastoring is -done according to regulations. Pastoral persons see themselves as the sole representatives and agents of the official church and make decisions in accordance with church policy, not necessarily in a mechanical or impersonal way, but in a way predetermined by church law.

A second model may be called personal-charismatic. Pastoring is done according to the personal care, style, sensitivity, good will, sincerity, or intuition of the pastoral person. The pastoral person represents the spirit of the church, its values and ideals but doesn't define or exercise them necessarily or exclusively according to church policy.

A third model is that of shared responsibility whereby pastoring is done together. Pastoral persons see themselves as catalysts, enablers trying to coordinate the diverse gifts and concerns of the people. Official church policy is included as one factor among many and ordained ministers are seen as part of a larger ministerial team.

Each model has a certain validity, certain benefits and limitations, and may even coexist among the members of the same staff in a given parish or agency. This pluralism can lead to confusion, to competition, to conflict, or to a breakdown of unity and support. Hence, there is a need to handle pluralism in a pastorally appropriate way.

(2) People. In relation to the people, pluralism has two important manifestations. In any congregation today a pastoral person should expect to find a range of diverse views on most subjects, such as sexual and social morality, types of spirituality, preferred religious identity, primary mission of the church. Such diversity on fundamental issues can create severe pastoral problems for identity, community, and solidarity.

A second manifestation of pluralism among the people concerns ministry itself since the term is being used more and more to describe all the work that aids the Christian mission. It is applied to the activity of laity as well as clergy, and it includes full time, part time, volunteer, and spontaneous workers. The current range of activities designated by the term ministry can lead to a crisis among professional, pastoral ministers, or it can inhibit persons from undertaking tasks which are now

¹¹ The presentation which follows is structured according to the analysis of leadership by Gerard Egan, "The Parish: Ministering Community and Community of Ministers," The Parish in Community and Ministry, Evelyn Whitehead, ed. (New York: Paulist Press, 1978), pp.73-91.

430 - How Pastoral Theology Functions

called ministry and are thereby assumed to require training or commitment which the person may not have.

(3) Place. In relation to the place where pastoral persons and people meet there are alternatives available for almost every pastoral service that can be offered. The alternatives may not be as good or as adequate as the pastoral services, but they exist and are being utilized. Some of the alternatives are ecumenical and some are cultural. For example, a Protestant church may offer a more extensive and exciting youth program than a Roman Catholic church, while the present youth culture might offer for some a greater experience of community and personal affirmation than churches of any denomination.

Likewise, persons in need of counseling services have access to professionally trained counsellors in addition to or in place of their parish clergy. Pastoral persons and people meet in an environment that competes for their attention, energy, support, and satisfaction, and this poses a real pastoral problem.

(4) Theological Parallel. In the scenario being sketched here, the pastoral minister confronted by pluralism looks to the academic theologian for some assistance in dealing with it. How the academic theologian would respond to the pastoral minister on this issue is indicated by the way the academic theologian responds to the parallel issue of pluralism in theology. The theological reflector would first identify the parallel and then clarify how the academic theologian handles it and what is communicated thereby. The parallel is manifested primarily in the way the academic theologian communicates to the theological reflector, for this reveals the way in which the academic theologian most likely would respond to the pastoral minister's struggle with pluralism.

A theological reflector would be alert to the attitudes, values, and feelings that are conveyed in the academic theologian's response. If the positive elements in the parallel can be highlighted and the negative elements diminished, then the theological reflector will have helped to enhance the communication between the academic theologian and the pastoral minister.

To carry out the example, let us suppose the academic theologian who is responding to the pastoral minister is Karl Ralmer (or someone who identifies completely with Rahner's views). The theological reflector would be keenly interested in how a Ralmerian deals with theological pluralism and how this is communicated.

The present theological reflector perceives in a Ralmerian treatment of theological pluralism the following features: (a) the pluralism being experienced in Theology Today is a new phenomenon; it differs from the diversity among schools of theology in the past; (b) this new situation is concomitant with developments in history and culture and is consistent with them; (e) pluralism is not just one factor among many in the

431 - How Pastoral Theology Functions

contemporary situation; it is a pervasive and constitutive factor which precludes an external, unifying vantage point; (d) because of its newness and pervasiveness, pluralism is not fully understood; consequently, it is not perfectly clear how it is to be dealt with and no one is obliged to deal with it in any one particular way.¹²

Assuming that this represents the basic view of a Rahnerian to theological pluralism, how would it be communicated to a pastoral minister?

(a) The fact that pluralism is a new phenomenon is conveyed with a mixed signal. On the one band, its very newness is a source of excitement and enthusiasm. Something unprecedented is taking place, and we are part of it; we are writing its history with our experience. On the other hand, Rahner's discussion of pluralism tends to stress its problematic side (especially vis-a-vis the unity of the creed), the confusion and anxiety it generates, and the fact that not everyone even admits we are in a pluralistic situation. Thus, the communication of a Rahnerian point of view could go either way, or both ways at once. It would be important for purposes of helpful exchange that the problematic aspects be subordinated to the positive aspects of newness and challenge. If the problematic is stressed, there is little benefit to be derived. Pastoral ministers already know pluralism can cause problems, but they may not experience that same pluralism as an occasion of newness and positive value.

(b) Contemporary pluralism is consistent with developments in this stage of history. This point is conveyed by Rahner with a sense of realism that avoids resignation or denial. So a Rahnerian should be able to help a pastoral minister recognize and prevent attitudes like "what am I going to do? It's the times we live in" (resignation). Or, "people express themselves differently, but fundamentally we are all saying the same thing" (denial). A Rahnerian would affirm that our times are pluralistic but for that very reason we must begin to see what can be done rather than assume that nothing can be done. Likewise a Rahnerian would challenge the view that current pluralism is only a matter of preferred expression rather than a more basic difference of assumptions, values, or goals. Of course, stressing the realistic character of pluralism could reinforce the problematic tone mentioned above, so a theological reflector would encourage a Rahnerian to be sure to convey a positive, confident realism.

(c) The latter point may also be communicated by affirming pluralism as a pervasive dimension of life today. This can have two effects. Pluralism is removed from the list of pastoral problems as one among

¹² These features are based primarily on Rahner's article "Pluralism in Theology and the Unity of the Creed in the Church," Theological Investigations, XI (Darton, Longman, and Todd Ltd., 1974), pp. 3-24.

432 - How Pastoral Theology Functions

many, and at the same time it is presented as a perspective from which to view all the other pastoral problems. Thus, instead of experiencing pluralism as one more thing to deal with, the pastoral minister is encouraged to see all ministry as pluralistic and to begin reshaping ministry along pluralistic lines. The Rahnerian can help convey the value and excitement of doing this if theology is being done along pluralistic lines. Whether this is the case depends, of course, on the individual theologian.

A Ralmerian could very easily encourage the pastoral minister to acknowledge the pervasiveness of pluralism and urge a pluralistic recasting of ministry while avoiding the same task in the realm of academic theology. The theological reflector would be especially sensitive to this point, holding the Ralmerian accountable for doing what the pastoral minister is encouraged to do.

(d) Precisely because pluralism is so pervasive, it cannot be simply circumscribed and resolved. It is more like a great frontier to be explored. Once again the Rahnerian attitude toward this can go in one of two directions. It can be seen as an overwhelming and discouraging prospect (insofar as Ralmer speaks of overcoming it as an alien force), or it can be seen as a situation leading to innovation, creativity, and enrichment. Rahner's discussion of pluralism is oriented toward the latter set of feelings but never completely free of the suggestion that all this is somewhat forbidding and dangerous. Moreover, the general implication of pluralism as a new situation is that the locus of accountability shifts. The norms and expectations handed on from tradition are not automatically adequate or obligatory, since they are norms and expectations from a non pluralistic age. In a radically new situation, new criteria of accountability are called for. This does not mean that the former criteria are absolutely rejected but that they themselves are subject to a pluralistic assessment.

Rahner spells out this implication in his description of bow the episcopal magisterium will likely have to function in the future and what the theologian's responsibility is with regard to the magisterium in a pluralistic age. The upshot of the reflection is that the exact contours of accountability are undecided, at least in any a priori, absolutely necessary way. Theological accountability is based at least as much on one's own criteria as those of tradition.

A Rahnerian, therefore, would challenge pastoral ministers constantly to clarify and claim the extent of their freedom in dealing with pluralism and to justify the rightful claims of traditional accountability precisely in terms of the new pluralistic situation. Such claims may very well be justified, but if they are, it is in relation to pluralism and not merely because of tradition. Thus, the impact of pluralism on freedom and the limits to one's activity are consistently acknowledged.

Finally, a Rahnerian perceives that pluralism puts everyone in a

433 - How Pastoral Theology Functions

basically similar position, and this clarifies contextually the relative importance of theological statements. Since pluralism conditions the environment in which all believers live and since no one is in a position fully to understand this pluralistic situation, everyone is compelled to speak to and learn from everyone else. In short, the situation is thoroughly communal and so, too, must be the way of dealing with it. This means two things. On the one hand, no one vantage point is necessarily superior to any other; on the other hand, the resolution of specific questions must be made by the individuals directly implicated. The community as a whole (and the representatives of the community at large) have a deep interest in how the resolution of specific questions occurs, but the interest should be in the direction of increased learning rather than more extensive control. This orientation locates the relative value of theological statement.

They are indicators, probes, and devices to clarify the pluralistic experience and share it for whatever benefit it holds. Theological statements are not determinative of Christian living as they were perhaps once thought to be. Theology has its contribution to make, but that contribution is not primarily along the lines of precise definition and judgment.

Rather, theology offers its reflection for the purpose of enriching and stimulating pastoral ministry. But the actual, concrete questions faced by pastoral ministers should be answered by them. This would seem to parallel consistently the Rahnerian insistance that technical theological disputes be worked out by the theologians and evaluated by them while the magisterium acts to reaffirm the fundamental creed and highlight the basic values at stake in any given theological discussion. A Rahnerian would insist that pastoral pluralism be dealt with by pastoral ministers while the theologian may reaffirm the fundamental purposes and values of pastoral ministry. It would be the responsibility of the whole community to prevent a splintering of interest or a disregard of mutual contributions, for no one is in a privileged position to know how pluralism should be dealt with by someone else.

Undoubtedly there are other aspects of a Ralmerian approach to theological pluralism which might enter the exchange between a theologian and a pastoral minister. Moreover, there are other theological approaches to pluralism which might be utilized. The main point here is that both pastoral ministers and academic theologians struggle with pluralism. The attitudes, values, and feelings involved in that struggle are an important part of any communication that would take place. If these factors can be clarified, the real contribution of academic theology to pastoral ministry is more likely to occur.¹³

¹³ Likewise, in an actual exchange, the pastoral minister would likely communicate something positive to the academic theologian. For example, the theologian might come to a new appreciation of how pluralism really does affect the pastoral minister or perceive more clearly the importance of liturgical and other ritual expressions of unity amid diversity.

434 - How Pastoral Theology Functions

IV. ILLUSTRATION 2: PERSONAL EXPERIENCE

The process just described should work in the other direction as well. An academic theologian may face a particular problem with which a pastoral minister could help. The use of parallel process by a theological reflector would be the same. To illustrate this, I select a general problem the academic theologian faces, that of personal experience and its impact on theological work, especially on teaching theology.

As a focal point and criterion for doing theology, personal experience was at the center of the Protestant Reformation. Martin Luther's anxiety about his own salvation raised a theme brought to more systematic expression by Friedrich Schleiermacher and has inspired, in differing ways, the rise of liberal Protestantism (Troeltsch, Ritschl), kerygmatic existentialism (Bultmann), empirical and anthropological systematics (Tillich), and radical, secular theology (Gogarten, Ogden, van Buren).

Largely because this emphasis was associated with Protestantism, it tended not to enter Roman Catholic theology. Indeed, the condemnation of such views under the description of "modernism" precluded public or creative incorporation of the personal experience motif in Roman Catholic theology. With the Second Vatican Council, however, the climate changed dramatically and the importance of personal experience was asserted in relation to the conciliar teachings regarding liturgy, ecumenism, lay apostolate, religious freedom, missions, revelation, and the church's role in the modern world.¹⁴

But asserting the importance of personal experience is not, ipso facto, integrating it into theological work or knowing exactly where it fits and how it affects the more noetic structures of theology. Nonetheless, personal experience continues to shape academic theology. One of the more significant manifestations of this has been a shift toward meaning as the primary criterion for theological work today.¹⁵ This stands in contrast to a criterion based on objectifiable conclusions scientifically arrived at. The truth content of theological statements is, of course, to be affirmed, but theology must be both true and meaningful. For example, a doctrine like the Immaculate Conception of Mary is guaranteed by the teaching authority of the church as true, but it may have little meaning in the lives and experience of people, whereas the humanity of Jesus and immortality are also guaranteed as objectively true and tend to have great meaning for most people.

¹⁴ See Gaudium et Spes, #3, "Hence, the pivotal point of our total presentation will be man himself, whole and entire, body and soul, heart and conscience, mind and will" (Abbott edition). For the impact of the personal experience theme on recent Roman Catholic theology, see Carl J. Peter, "A Shift to the Human Subject in Roman Catholic Theology," Communio, VI (Spring 1979), pp. 56-73.
¹⁵ See David Tracy, Blessed Rage for Order: The New Pluralism in Theology (New York: Seabury Press, 1975), especially chapters 4 and 8; Edward Schillebeeckx, The Understanding of Faith: Interpretation and Criticism (New York: Seabury Press, 1974).

435 - How Pastoral Theology Functions

This shift toward the primacy of meaning introduces a new factor for the academic theologian, one which the classical methods of theology are not always capable of handling adequately. However, even when theological reflection is aimed at meaning and personal experience, there still exists a critical problem because the determination of theological meaning is not made by individuals alone. Some combination of private and public meaning is required, because Christian truth is primordially a revealed truth. There is a givenness to Christian revelation which precludes an absolutely private determination of meaning, although the given is, to be sure, a mystery. As such, it transcends and encompasses the capacity of any and all individuals to grasp it.

So the theological quest for meaning is carried out in tension between individual and communal, private and public, existential and traditional factors, and this tension is experienced perhaps nowhere more fully than in the context of teaching theology. Within this matrix especially, the integration of personal experience and scientific theology is to be worked out, although it is not always clear how this is to be done.

Now the importance and integration of personal experience is an issue facing the pastoral minister also. Indeed it is at the very core of the pastoral ministry. Hence, an academic theologian could rightfully took to a pastoral minister for some assistance in dealing with this issue. According to the use of parallel process being illustrated here, the theological reflector would first identify a parallel in ministry, clarify its use, and indicate its communicative effect.

Suppose the pastoral minister who responds to the academic theologian is thoroughly familiar with and makes use of the adult learning principles (andragogy) of Malcolm S. Knowles to deal with personal experience in the ministry. The theological reflector would be interested in how such a pastoral minister would communicate to an academic theologian this way of dealing with personal experience. The primary indication comes in the way the andragogical minister's view is conveyed to the theological reflector.

In this case, the communication includes the following points:¹⁶ (a) adult-centered learning is significantly different from child-centered learning in that adult learning is largely self directive rather than dependent, utilizes the adult accumulation of experience, is related to the developmental tasks of an adult's social role, and is aimed at immediate application. In short, it is participative and subject-centered. (b) Adult learning is a lifelong process which is correlative with other phases of human growth; it is not merely preparatory as schooling is usually thought of. (c) Adult learning relies on the environment and

¹⁶ These points are taken from Malcolm S. Knowles, The Modern Practice of Adult Education: Andragogy Versus Pedagogy (New York: Association Press, 1970) and How Adults Learn (New York: Association Press, 1971).

436 - How Pastoral Theology Functions

interaction of the learners rather than the transferral of predetermined information.

If only this much of Knowles' analysis of andragogy were to be communicated to an academic theologian, what accompanying attitudes and values and feelings would be helpful to the theologian, especially in teaching theology? And how might a theological reflector, using parallel process, indicate this?

The primary communication in this case is that adults are taken seriously as adults. They are truly at the center of the whole andragogical approach and therefore at the center of any ministry (or theology) based on this approach. This has several implications. Adults must be seen (visually) as adults and not as grown up children. This attitude is especially critical for teaching, because it is likely that neither the theologian nor the learners have experienced this type of adult learning in their formal education. Everyone needs to work at acting like adults. Far from being another chore, this can give rise to some stimulating and humorous experiences as one pattern is unlearned and another new one is learned.

In addition to being seen, adults must be valued as adults who have experience and prior learning. Their active contributions are genuinely sought rather than just acknowledged. Also adults should be trusted to know what they need and when their need has been met. This does not mean that they should be expected to know their needs clearly ahead of time, but neither should the theologian be expected to know them. Personal experience in an andragogical approach functions as a heuristic criterion, not a predetermining one.

Along this same line, another major attitude to be communicated is that the personal experience of adults can be trusted if the theological (or ministerial) task is codetermined by that experience. If personal experience contributes to the very defining of a specific theological task, then experience is already included from the beginning. This is one way of positively integrating personal experience into theology.

Of course, it may be that completion of the theological task shows that the initial experience was inaccurately understood or inadequate in itself or not as fruitful as some other experience would have been. But in that case theological progress by way of clarification has still taken place and it has happened precisely in relation to personal experience. This means, further, that responsibility for the theology (or ministry) is shared by all those who take up the task, that is, by all those who pool their experiences initially to determine the specific task. It is not just the theologian's responsibility (or the minister's) to achieve the end result.

From this it is clear that an andragogical minister would challenge an academic theologian to evaluate seriously from the outset the personal experience of adults. If the theologian keeps adults' experience outside the theological enterprise proper and uses it only to illustrate or to apply theological points, then personal experience is not being dealt with in an andragogical manner. Recognizing this may also indicate the theolo-

437 - How Pastoral Theology Functions

gian's degree of comfort or confidence in the use of personal experience. But if the theologian lets personal experience initially help to set the agenda and guide the direction of reflection, then personal experience in an andragogical manner is properly included. Moreover, such experience would be used by the theological reflector to communicate further the nature and function of andragogy. That is, the very way this approach is communicated to the theologian should itself be an example of andragogy.

If the personal experience of adults is taken seriously by the theologian so that it helps to shape the theological agenda, the pastoral minister could point out certain other implications which would follow: (a) the precise contribution of theology would be more clearly delineated; (b) the meaning of that contribution would be more immediately determined; (c) the satisfaction of doing theology would be more positively reinforced.

The contribution of theology would be more clearly delineated because the tasks emerging out of personal experience are concrete and limited. The particular contribution of theology as such would be seen more clearly in relation to specific personal experience than if a whole theological treatise were developed conceptually apart from specific personal experience. Similarly, the value of the theological contribution for the performance of actual tasks related to personal experience can be determined almost at once--or at least as soon as the tasks are undertaken after the theological contribution has been made. If the tasks are performed more satisfactorily, the theologian is thereby reinforced. If the tasks are performed less satisfactorily, the theologian at least knows what the tasks are and so seeks to make a different or better contribution.

Perhaps the overriding value to be communicated in all this is that personal experience, if taken seriously, creates a collaborative environment wherein the theologian's work is defined and therefore valued precisely because it is done in relation to personal experience. Once the theologian takes personal experience andragogically as the method for doing theology rather than as another issue to be dealt with, a whole series of conclusions follow which are fresh, exciting, and worthy of the theological profession.¹⁷

V.

In this article I have suggested one approach to the challenge of facilitating communication between academic theology and pastoral

¹⁷ In an actual exchange the academic theologian would undoubtedly make some contributions to the pastoral minister as well. E.g., the minister may come to appreciate in a new way the value of the private research and insights of theologians which are necessary for there to be theological input at all, or the theologian may raise certain critical questions which elucidate the relative importance of different personal experiences.

438 - How Pastoral Theology Functions

ministry. The full benefit of a parallel process can be experienced only when the theologian and the minister actually encounter each other and dialogue openly. In the meantime theological reflectors, mindful of the common concerns of theologians and ministers, can take their respective testimonies, be attentive to specific parallels, and point out how the process of communication may be enhanced. This may not be the ideal functioning of pastoral theology, but it is a step along the way.