Mental Health Sciences in Clergy Training and Pastoral Practice of the Church of England

Abstract

The article presents a review of key documental sources, structures and approaches that are characteristic for the psychological science in the Church of England’s practical life. In the Introduction to the article the authors tell about the method they applied in their research and the ways the pastoral ministry is understood in the Church of England. The authors identify four key instruments of the Anglican pastoral tradition: public worship, preaching, auricular confession, and Christian teaching beyond the church facilities. The Part Two is meant to describe the role of psychology in pastoral training of the Church of England’s clergy. It includes the position of the mental health sciences in formal education of the clergy candidates, the use of psychology-based methods in their assessment and self-assessment, and evaluation of the candidates that considers their psychological capacities, as well as mental health agenda within the continuing ministerial development, which is an accepted practice in the Church of England today. In the Part Three the authors analyze the place of the mental health sciences in actual pastoral practices in connection with some psychological, theological, and legal issues. The Part Four deals with the ways of supervision and protection of wellbeing of the Church of England’s clergy, pastoral workers, and their family members, which includes prevention and management of the related problems. In the Conclusion the authors briefly evaluate the effects of the Church of England’s current approaches to the mental health sciences. The Bibliography is ordered chronologically and comprises of the sources and the key secondary literature.