Download or read book Pastoral Care in Context written by John Patton and published by Westminster John Knox Press. This book was released on 2005-02-18 with total page 289 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An expert in the field of pastoral care, John Patton demonstrates that pastoral care is a ministry of the church. He focuses on the community of faith as an authorizer and source of care and upon the relationship between the pastor and a caring community. Patton identifies and compares three paradigms of pastoral care: the classical, the clinical pastoral, and the communal contextual. This third paradigm emphasizes the caring community and the various contexts for care rather than focusing on pastoral care as the work of the ordained pastor.