Harold Senkbeil. What’s Old is New Again: The Art of Seelsorge

From a presentation by Dr. Harold Senkbeil at the Good Shepherd Institute at Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne, Indiana from November 2022. Here is the article. “This study looks at the nature of the care of souls and its impact on the church in various eras, including our own. While it is addressed to everyone […]

Working Bibliography

Care of the Soul: A Working Bibliography.

Pastoral Care for Abused People

Kleinig, John W. Pastoral Care for Abused People. Personal correspondence to H L Senkbeil. December 16, 1998. As for pastoral care of people who have been abused, I believe that the best way of dealing with them is outlined in the psalms of individual lament. They presuppose that shame from and at abuse is to be […]

These on the Captivated and Liberated Will

Mattes, Mark C. Theses on the Captivated and Liberated Will The most fundamental challenge for presenting the gospel in the current North American context is that the gospel presupposes a bound will while most North Americans presuppose a free will. More than anything, Americans value choice. With respect to God, however, they habitually make a category […]

The Cure of Souls: Good for What Ails You

Senkbeil. Harold L. The Cure of Souls: Good for What Ails You Mention “healing” and most people think of physicians, the medical arts, and pharmacology. Yet increasingly medical personnel are broadening their horizons to think holistically about human health. They have come to see that the physical health of a human being is connected to mental/emotional […]

Lead Us Not Into Temptation: ACEDIA: The Pastoral Pandemic

Senkbeil, Harold L. Lead Us Not Into Temptation: ACEDIA: The Pastoral Pandemic in John R. Stephenson and Thomas M. Winger, eds. You, My People, Shall be Holy: A Festschrift in Honour of John W. Kleinig. Concordia Lutheran Theological Seminary, St. Catharines, Ontario. 263 – 274. More than twenty years have passed since someone passed along to me a […]

The Art of Spiritual Evaluation

Senkbeil, Harold L. The Art of Spiritual Evaluation The Good Shepherd Institute. Concordia Theological Seminary. Fort Wayne, Indiana. 2000, November 7. As the Third Millennium of the Christian era begins, the church and the world appear steering by paradoxically different courses – in many ways, the culture seems more spiritually inclined than the church. One common characteristic […]

When God Takes Aim

Senkbeil, Harold L. When God Takes Aim For the Life of the World.(2006,February 20). What can you do when life crashes in? How do you keep going when everything you hold near and dear is taken from you? What happens when health is jeopardized, when you lose your job, when someone you love dies, when you face […]

The Theology of the Cross

Iwand, Hans Joachim.  The Theology of the Cross Beinruder Konvent.Herbst.1959.Trans. Aaron Moldenhauer: 2004 Reformation. As I now—at the end of our conference—present a short summary of Luther’s theology of the cross, I would like to make clear from the start that by no means is this a definitive rendering of the theme before us; it is […]

Pastoral Care for Suffering People

Yahnke, Beverly K. Pastoral Care for Suffering People Mercy Conference.2007. It is both a pleasure and surprise to be with you this afternoon. A pleasure, for this conference addresses matters of eternal importance, yet responds to matters rooted deeply in the turmoil of our time. Candidly, I couldnʼt have been more surprised to receive an invitation from […]

Luther on Depression (Letter to George Spalatin on Melancholy)

Luther on Depression (Letter to George Spalatin on Melancholy) Translation from the Latin (WA BR X. No.4021) by Elmore Leske. (2013, August).Edited and revised by Stephen Pietsch (2013, August). I deeply sympathise with you, my dearest Spalatin, and I pray to the Lord that he may Strengthen and cheer you. As I enquire what kind of […]

Depression and the Soul

Pietsch, Stephen. Depression and the Soul Australian Lutheran College.2010. Why depression? I chose this topic because researching this area in the last months has made me aware of just what a hidden plague it is in Australia, and how little the Christian churches have seriously begun to understand or respond to it. The current community and media […]

Sleep in Heavenly Peace

Senkbeil, Harold L. Sleep in Heavenly Peace Modern Reformation Article.(2004,November/December)6. Will you catch it this year? That illusive feeling called “the Christmas spirit?” Usually it’s brought on by healthy doses of the familiar trappings of the season: twinkling lights on Christmas trees, gaily wrapped packages, strains of familiar carols. These all bring on annual waves of nostalgia, […]

The Kindled Heart: Luther on Meditation

Kleinig, John W. The Kindled Heart: Luther on Meditation Lutheran Theological Journal.20.2&3.(1986) 142-154. It is easy to underestimate the importance of meditation for Luther. As a novice, he was initiated formally into its theory, and he became steeped in its practice in the monastery. Through meditation, Luther finally resolved the acute spiritual problem which had driven him […]

The Cross and Personal Piety

Senkbeil, Harold L. The Cross and Personal Piety (2003, May 26). If you pay attention to what’s hot and what’s not these days, you’re no doubt aware that crosses are definitely hot. Time was when you’d be hard pressed to find a cross anywhere besides most churches and some Christian homes, but now crosses seem to be […]

Meditatio: On the Making of a Pastor

Senkbeil, Harold L. Meditatio: On the Making of a Pastor Luther’s famous dictum regarding the making of a theologian has a certain allure for contemporary ears, fascinated as we are by sound bites and slogans. Oratio, Meditatio, Tentatio – short, concise, and onomatopoetic. The Latin language, widely and diligently studied by countless generations of schoolboys and […]

What I learned on Wednesday

Schave, Steve. What I Learned on Wednesdays (2010, September 15). For the last three years, I have spent my Wednesday afternoons with a retired pastor who moved to the area near my church. He was not a shut-in, merely someone I visited who really enjoyed having lively conversations with me. He was a man small of stature, […]

Ministry and Ordination

Kleinig, John W. Ministry and Ordination Lutheran Theological Journal 36.1(2002):25-37. The Lutheran Church of Australia has been engaged in discussion on whether women may be ordained into the office of the public ministry. This question, however, presupposes that there is agreement on two even more basic theological issues. It assumes that there is such an office of […]

Aaron

Herbert, George. Aaron The Works of George Herbert in Prose and Verse. New York. John Wurtele Lovell. 1881.276-277. George Herbert, poet and pastor, describes the conflicted convictions of every pastor who takes his own sins seriously, but the holiness that Christ bestows even more seriously.

Stewardship as Pastoral Care in the Era of Covid-19

Meador, Nathan. – Stewardship as Pastoral Care in the Era of Covid-19 There isn’t a person in this world that has not been impacted by this pandemic. Like every aspect ofsociety, the Church has been drastically impacted by this outbreak. Just a couple of weeks ago, somecongregations felt the strain of being encouraged not to shake […]