ETS Proposal Abstract
Drew RANDLE, PhD, Professor of Christian Ministry, Bryan College
The Use of Gary Smalley and John Trent’s Book The Blessing as a Framework for Academic Pastoral Care
Pastoral care is the deep care that a pastor, as well as the flock in a local body, have for each other daily as deep physical, emotional, and spiritual needs are met. This care is often exhibited in times of personal or familial crisis, tragedy, and daily accountability. Most churches across denominational lines do a solid job of extending pastoral care to each other. Members are cared for in the loss of loved ones, times of personal crisis, or in times of financial struggles. In contrast, in the Christian academy, that same care is often limited on non-existent. This reality often occurs due to a lack of a solid framework as to how to extend that care to colleagues and those in crisis within the academy. In a recent “Academic Briefing” article, “according to an October 2020 Chronicle of Higher Education survey of 1,122 US college and university faculty, more than two-thirds of faculty reported struggling with increased workloads and the deterioration of work-life balance, and over half were considering retiring or changing careers, with tenured faculty leading the way” (“Academic Briefing”, November 2023). This statistic highlights the need that faculty in higher education possess for academic care. In 1986, Gary Smalley and John Trent released their landmark book, The Blessing. Their original premise centered on the extension of the blessing by the Old Testament patriarchs to their children. Smalley and Trent’s framework of the blessing can be applied to the extension of pastoral care within the Christian academy. This paper will seek to explore a biblical and practical framework for pastoral care, and the use of Smalley and Trent’s elements of the blessing including meaningful touch, spoken words, expressing high value, picturing a special future, and an active commitment as a framework for pastoral care in the Christian academy.