A Model For Pastoral Prayer As An Act of Ministry.

This dissertation describes a Clinical Pastoral Education project on pastoral prayer as an act of ministry, conducted at Self Memorial Hospital in Greenwood, South Carolina, during the summer program of 2000. The primary dimension of the project was a peer-group process of reflection and refinement of pastoral prayers from verbatim accounts of ministry encounters reported by five participants in the CPE program. The goal was to develop the pastoral capacity to include concerns registered by patients and families in pastoral prayers. The intention was to provide supportive pastoral presence to persons in the midst of healthcare crises, to assure that their concerns were heard, and to give voice to those issues in pastoral prayers directed to the inclined ear of God. The theological construct for the project was based on the triangular interplay of patient, chaplain, and God in prayer as an act of ministry. Understanding and applying the theological meaning and implications of prayer as an act of ministry was foundational in this project. An exploration of the theological meaning of the Lord's Prayer and the nature of prayer in the Psalms provided a didactic framework for the clinical process of reflection and refinement of pastoral prayer as an act of ministry. A disciplined focus on the theology of prayer was vital for a pastoral orientation of pastoral prayer as an act of ministry rather than an attachment to ministry. The unifying force in the project was an intentional recording by students of pastoral prayers in verbatim accounts of ministry experiences. Prayers offered during pastoral visits and ‘closet prayers’ before or following pastoral visits were presented for peer-group reflection and assessment. Evaluation centered on the inclusion or omission of issues raised by patients and families in pastoral visitation in recorded prayers. Following peer-group reflection students were asked to refine prayers as a way to strengthen their ability to include the content of conversational issues arising from encounters with patients and families. This focused attentiveness to what is voiced in pastoral visitation led to an increasing appreciation of prayer as an act of ministry. An exploration of the increasing emphasis on prayer and healing in medical practice was designed to place emphasis on the importance of pastoral awareness of current trends of treatment in healthcare settings. A diversity of holistic methods of treatment examined by the students led to an appreciation for the inclusion of spirituality issues in treatment methods. Research of medical trials attempting to prove that prayer is a measurable basis of outcome was countered with a strong contention that prayer cannot be reduced to a treatment tool that is measurable. Prayer is a relational connection with God, not something to be used as a human technique for expected results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]