ABSTRACT
This chapter provides a critical analysis of inter-sectoral partnership of social work and pastoral counselling in South Africa through extensive integrative literature review and authors’ personal experiences as both Christians and social workers. Social workers and spiritual leaders are both essential workers to support the needs of clients within communities. Literature shows that social workers are trained to deliver a variety of social support services to diverse populations, including religious populations. However, there are quite a few studies in South Africa that have rigorously focused on the relationship between social work education and pastoral counselling in African Christianity. The social work curriculum within the training institutions in South Africa should include Christianity wherein social work students would be taught about the importance of pastoral counselling. The authors recommend that during counselling with clients who come from a Christian background, social workers should seek pastoral services.
