Foundations for Pastoral Practice (DP1001Y)

Undergraduate, 18.0 points

Content

This unit explores pastoral practice in a diverse society, linking pastoral theory and pastoral practice. It draws on key sociological concepts and theories to explore and analyse diversity related to race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, disability, neurodivergence, and age, whilst developing the ability to reflect on our own experience and self-understanding and its influence on how we might operate as pastoral practitioners.

Unit code: DP1001Y

Unit status: Approved (Major revision)

Points: 18.0

Unit level: Undergraduate Level 1

Unit discipline: Pastoral Theology and Ministry Studies

Delivery Mode: Blended

Proposing College: Yarra Theological Union

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Learning outcomes

1.

Demonstrate an understanding of how structures, worldviews, beliefs, and values impact on the experience of individuals and groups in terms of marginalisation and othering
2.

Compare and contrast selected approaches to pastoral theory and practice, and a theology of the self
3.

Identify how personal experience influences one's understanding of what ‘difference’ and ‘otherness’ means in pastoral practice
4.

Assess the place of a theological understanding of the self within pastoral practice

Pedagogy

Synchronous and asynchronous lectures and tutorials

Indicative Bibliography

  • Balswick, Jack O., Pamela Ebstein King and Kevin S. Reimer. The Reciprocating Self: Human Development in Theological Perspective. Illinois: IVP, 2005. *
  • Doehring, Carrie. The Practice of Pastoral Care: A Postmodern approach (Revised and expanded edition). Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2014.
  • Harter, Susan. Construction of the Self: Developmental and Sociocultural Foundations. New York: Guilford Publications, 2012.
  • Hermans, Hubert J. M. and Giancarlo Dimaggio. The Dialogical Self in Psychotherapy. New York: Routledge, 2016.
  • Hoffnung, Michele, Robert J. Hoffnung, Kelvin L. Seifert, Abi Brooker, Sonja Ellis, Damien Riggs, Wayne Warburton, and Elyse Warner. Lifespan Development: A Chronological Approach. 5th Australasian Edition. Milton, QLD: John Wiley & Sons Australia, 2022.
  • Lerner, Richard M. Concepts and Theories of Human Development. 4th ed. New York: Routledge, 2018.
  • Loder, James E. The Logic of the Spirit: Human Development in Theological Perspective. Hoboken, NJ: Jossey-Bass Publishers, 1998.
  • Newman, Barbara M. and Philip R. Newman. Theories of Human Development. 3rd edn.  Milton Park, UK: Routledge, 2022.
  • Patton, John. Pastoral Care: An Essential Guide. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2005. *
  • Williams, Rowan. Being Human: Bodies, Minds, Persons. London: SPCK, 2018.
  • Welker, Michael, ed. The Depth of the Human Person: A Multidisciplinary Approach. Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans, 2014.
  • White, Nathan H. and Christopher C.H. Cook (eds.). Biblical and Theological Visions of Resilence. Pastoral and Clinical Insights. London: Routledge, 2020.

Assessment

Type Description Word count Weight (%)
Portfolio 3500 100.0
Approvals

Unit approved for the University of Divinity by Prof Albert Haddad on 25 Jun, 2026

Unit record last updated: 2026-06-25 09:25:22 +1000