As ministerial leaders taking the position of spiritual leader and guide of a congregation, the responsibility of providing pastoral care requires an awareness of and sensitivity to the life events that occur during the various seasons and transitions in the human lifecycle.

The Pastoral Care Across the Lifecycle resource is designed to contribute to capacity and skill-building in pastoral care as part of ministerial leadership, moving the idea of care from the personal to the professional. Through the Action-Reflection model, learners at all levels of experience in pastoral ministry have the opportunity to further deepen the capacity to listen with understanding, receive skilled feedback and identify and explain the cultural, psychological and theological contexts that shape their responses to life events that require care in the lifecycle, such as loss, death and marriage. Learners will be able to reflect on the creative interface between pastoral care and other aspects of ministry (such as rituals and preaching), providing an opportunity for more experienced learners to further develop your own pastoral care skills.

You’ll develop a deeper awareness of the cultural, emotional, and theological dimensions of care, while gaining practical tools for pastoral listening, assessment, and response. Through the Action-Reflection model, you’ll enhance your ability to receive feedback, identify core dynamics in life transitions, and integrate pastoral care into preaching, ritual, and ministry leadership. Whether you’re beginning your journey or seeking to refine your skills, this course will strengthen your capacity to walk with others through life’s most profound moments.

Dr. Brooke Petersen is the John H. Tietjen Chair of Pastoral Ministry and Assistant Professor of Pastoral Care at LSTC, where she also directs master’s programs and ELCA candidacy. An ordained ELCA pastor and practicing psychotherapist, she earned her PhD from Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary with a focus on religious trauma and queer identity. Her teaching and research explore the intersections of trauma, mental health, and pastoral care. Dr. Petersen is an LSTC alumna and has served in pastoral ministry and taught at multiple seminaries across Chicago.

M1:Foundations of Pastoral Care

When considering the question, "What is pastoral care?" it is common for us to point to moments in the lifecycle where care is most needed—birth and death, moments of joy and suffering and turning points when a path forward seems unclear. However, before we accompany people in these moments, we must first engage the rich tradition of “the cure and care of souls,” from very early documents about how ministerial leaders cared for others all the way to contemporary views and critiques of pastoral care.

In this module, you’ll explore views of the functions of pastoral care as you start to consider what skilled pastoral care looks like for you.

• MO1: Describe the foundational concepts and purpose of pastoral theology.
• MO2: Distinguish personal friendships and professional caregiving in the context of pastoral care.
• MO3: Analyze the evolution of pastoral care over time.
• MO4: Examine historical texts related to the "cure and care of souls”.
• MO5: Formulate a professional pastoral care framework by reflecting on historical and contemporary models.

M2: Introduction to Pastoral Theology

In the first module, you engaged with some of the common views about the functions of pastoral care: healing, guiding, sustaining, reconciling, empowering, nurturing and liberating.

In this module, you will expand these functions as we imagine how to think about the role of those providing care and those receiving care. Using models of pastoral care as well as images of caregivers and receivers, you will begin to deepen your sense of who you are as a pastoral caregiver.

• MO1: Identify the reasons individuals seek pastoral care.
• MO2: Describe the roles, strengths and limitations in various caregiving contexts.
• MO3: Contrast different models and images of pastoral care to understand the roles, strengths and limitations in various caregiving contexts.
• MO4: Analyze examples of pastoral care portrayed in church media.
• MO5: Categorize the work of pastors and deacons to understand the prevalence of pastoral care.

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M3: Lifecycle Care and Developmental Theories

Life is full of change. So, what happens in the lifecycle to allow us to be relatively happy, to be able to love and be loved, to be able to find meaning in life? And as we move through our lives, what role does faith play in supporting and encouraging us?

In this module, you will begin to answer these questions by exploring processes of development: The mental, physical, emotional and relational changes that occur in the space between birth and death.

By examining theories of development, you will expand your understanding of how to care for people throughout the lifecycle. Additionally, you will be introduced to the Conversation Report and begin learning how to use conversation as a care-providing tool.

• MO1: Describe the key elements of psychosocial development theories.
• MO2: Explain the link between psychosocial development and key elements of faith development theories.
• MO3: Analyze the impact of mental, physical, emotional and relational changes on individuals throughout the lifecycle.
• MO4: Develop conversation skills as a care-providing tool through the Conversation Report.

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M4: Worship Parts: Gathering

In his book, Life Together, Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote that “Our love for others is learning to listen to them.” In pastoral care, we often learn that the most painful and disappointing experiences people have had in their religious community is when a caregiver ignored them or did not listen when they shared their stories of pain and suffering.

In this module, you will work on key listening skills, incorporating self-reflection to help expand your skills as a professional listener and caregiver.

• MO1: Describe the role of listening in pastoral care.
• MO2: Outline the barriers to effective listening in the context of pastoral caregiving.
• MO3: Demonstrate effective listening practices through a transcript review.
• MO4: Identify key characteristics of good listening, drawing on personal experience.
• MO5:vAnalyze frameworks for listening, including the assessment of feelings and content.

M5: The Assessment of Listening

Listening involves much more than just what we hear in words shared in conversation. In this module, you will explore how to assess and respond to the emotional and relational dynamics when individuals share their deepest concerns and uncertainties. You will also engage in self-reflection to better understand your own listening process, enhancing your ability to assess complex situations and strengthen your skills in managing conflict and providing constructive feedback.

• MO1: Explain the emotional and relational dynamics present in pastoral conversations.
• MO2: Apply listening assessment techniques to complex pastoral care situations.
• MO3: Evaluate your personal listening process through self-reflection and assessment.
• MO4: Develop skills for managing conflict and providing constructive feedback in pastoral care.

M6: Genograms

Families are complex systems, and thinking about families as systems — where all people have impacts on all other people in the family — is central to family systems theory; a popular way to train ministerial leaders to understand the complex structures of churches, families and groups. When we begin to study families, we can recognize a complicated web of people tied to one another and, at times, acting in ways that they might not fully understand because of the powerful impact of systems on individual members in them.

In this module, you will explore the power of families to wound and to heal, using biblical families and your own families to help you understand gifts and skills you bring to caring for families in ministry.

• MO1: Explain the key concepts of family systems theory and their relevance to pastoral care.
• MO2: Examine biblical family narratives as case studies for understanding relational patterns.
• MO3: Reflect on the skills and challenges related to one's own family system in pastoral caregiving.
• MO4: Create a personal genogram to explore the impact of family systems on pastoral care approaches.

M7: Care For Beginnings

For many pastoral caregivers, a primary moment of care in the lifecycle is in beginnings. Whether it is the birth of a new baby, the movement from one phase of life to another, or the start of something completely new, pastoral caregivers are often engaged in the griefs and joys of beginnings.

In this module, you will examine some common beginnings in the lives of Christian people and explore how pastoral caregiving is required in this key part of the lifecycle.

• MO1: Describe key life transitions and beginnings that commonly require pastoral care.
• MO2: Analyze the role of pastoral caregivers in supporting individuals and families through moments of joy and grief in lifecycle beginnings.
• MO3: Evaluate pastoral responses to loss and new beginnings through case study analysis.
• MO4: Develop a set of best practices for providing care in situations of birth, transition and loss.

M8: Care for The Daily Round

Many people can bring to mind the pastoral encounters most significant to the beginning and end of life - birth and death. There are fewer social markers to indicate stages in the middle part of the lifecycle, yet pastoral caregivers find themselves accompanying people as they face significant existential questions. What is the purpose of life? What is a good life for a person of faith?

In this module, you will examine the middle years and models for care and counseling with people during these times.

• MO1: Describe the unique pastoral care needs of individuals in the middle stages of life.
• MO2: Analyze the existential questions that arise during the daily rhythms of life and their impact on faith and well-being.
• MO3: Evaluate models of care and counseling to support individuals in their life journeys.

M9: Premarital, Marital and Relationship Care

We know ourselves through relationships. From our earliest memories of being cared for, to early friendships or intimate partnerships in adulthood, we learn who we are from our relationships with others.

In this module, you will address some of the particulars of how to care for people in relationships – whether they are seeking to be married, have been married, or are tending to other kinds of relationships.

• MO1: Describe the role of pastoral care in premarital, marital and relationship counseling.
• MO2: Evaluate key approaches to supporting individuals and couples through various relationship stages.

M10: Grief and Loss

Kenneth Mitchell and Herbert Anderson write, “For many persons, the loss occasioned by death is the only loss worthy of significant attention; but the losses to which (unlike the death of a loved one) we do not pay intentional heed may have a more profound impact on us in the long run.” (1983).

In this module, you will examine the variety or losses that people encounter in the lifecycle, paying particular attention to losses outside of death. You will also engage with models of grief and how pastoral caregivers might support people grieving different losses.

• MO1: Outline the key themes and challenges in grief and loss through case study analysis.
• MO2: Explain the role of a pastoral caregiver for those experiencing grief and loss.
• MO3: Analyze situational caregiving cases by selecting appropriate responses as a pastoral caregiver.
• MO4: Assess the effectiveness of the different pastoral care approaches in grief support and their relevance to your practice.

M11: Care for Endings

Some of the most challenging work of pastoral caregivers is found in accompanying people through their own deaths, as well as the deaths of loved ones.

In this module we will explore theories of grief and loss specific to death, as well as our own experiences with this kind of loss.

• MO1: Explain the role of pastoral caregivers in accompanying individuals through death and bereavement.
• MO2: Apply grief and loss theories to a pastoral care case study.
• MO3: Evaluate different pastoral care approaches in end-of-life support and bereavement.
• MO4: Reflect on the impact of personal experiences with death and bereavement on pastoral caregiving.

M12: Care for the Caregiver and Ritual as Pastoral Care

One of the most significant tools that religious leaders bring to pastoral care is the power of ritual. Rituals help us stop and recognize that something important is happening. In this module, we will examine the power of ritual to assist us in pastoral care.

In addition, this final module will also present possibilities for how pastoral caregivers can care for themselves in the midst of the sacred of pastoral caregiving.

• MO1: Identify key concepts related to pastoral resilience.
• MO2: Define an approach to rituals in the church that is connected to pastoral care
• MO3: Apply strategies for managing anxiety, depression and burnout in pastoral caregiving.
• MO4: Evaluate various approaches for balancing pastoral responsibilities and self-care.
• MO5: Develop a personal framework for integrating listening skills, family systems, and professional pastoral care practices to support individuals and families across the lifecycle.