ABSTRACT
Pastoral care is undergoing significant changes. Evidence for that is to be found not only in changing patterns of pastoral practice but also in the academic literature on the subject. I take as my starting point Elaine Graham’s Transforming Practice (Graham 1996), one of the best reinterpretations of what is going on in the field. A number of recent developments have reshaped what is now to be encountered. Put succinctly they are the influences of studies of gender, pluralism, disestablishment and postmodernity. (Graham 1996: 59) I will argue in this chapter that globalization also needs to be on this list, but there are clearly significant overlaps and connections with Graham’s other candidates and she herself acknowledges this in her later work (2002: 163-5). Let us first though plot out the territory using her research.
