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The article describes a new theory of pastoral care developed by a theologian and pastor who works with the systems theory of Niklas Luhmann with all its consequences. Emlein’s contribution is to present pastoral care as a systemic hybrid of religious and psychotherapeutic communication. The author of the article evaluates the advantages of this theory. Its reconstruction of the function and forms of religion, however, does not reveal semantic differences between religions.

Summary On the Rituality of the Sunday Service in Mainline Protestant Churches: Christian Walti’s Study on Liturgical Interaction in the Swiss Reformed Church. The article informs about the results ofWalti’s empirical study published in a 700-page volume based on a new theory of rituality. A comparison with Roman Catholic rituality and that of charismatic worship services further reveals the differences. The article ends with suggestions on what improvements are realistic and possible.

Summary The article starts out from a critique of a normative self-conception which holds the „Volkskirche“ (such as in Germany) to be the only truly protestant and simply best kind of church in general. In contrast to this a more descriptive concept of four church families is developed. It holds that, besides the orthodox churches and the Roman Catholic Church, within protestantism two church families can be distinguished (the „churches of the reformation“ and the „pentecostal churches and other holiness churches”) with many other protestant denominations somewhere in between. Common and distinguishing characteristics of these two church families are outlined, and strengths and weaknesses of them discussed.

Weiher’s book on spiritual care was written to improve the professional practice of hospital doctors and nurses. Thus it shows howa theologian can make the common field of spiritual care and pastoral care plausible for all, including non-religious and non-Christian readers. It helps to distinguish between the possibilities of general spiritual care practised by medical personnel and that of professional spiritual and pastoral care. Religious spiritual care and nonreligious spiritual care can be valued as varieties of a core human practice.

A Breakthrough for Pastoral Care in the Congregation: On the Books by Rolf Theobold and Wolfgang Drechsel. For many years pastoral care in local churches was looked upon as a practice of lesser professionalisation and value compared to the work of pastoral specialists for counseling e. g. as hospital chaplains. Theobold shows how the newer methodologies of solution-oriented short-time therapy can be relatively easily learned and fit the requirements in local church situations. Drechsel stresses that the pastor's work in the name of the church stands for an understanding that true freedom and justification is given only by God. A therapeutic perspective thus is too simple - the pastor's work includes far more complex and creative modes of communication.

Pastoral Care Through Public Rituals? Commemoration Services for Fallen Soldiers as Public Spiritual Care? The article first specifies characteristics of rituals and of pastoral care. Then it shows how they are combined in the case of public commemoration services in churches. Thus, qualities of religious communication can be seen. These can also be at work, when the meaning of life is questioned by such deaths and by this the meaning of military operations ordered by the government is put in question