Exploring Practices of Ministry (Foundations for Learning)

Fortress Presss Foundations for Learning series prepares students for academic success through compelling resources that kick-start their educational journey into professional Christian ministry. In Exploring Practices of Ministry, Pamela Cooper-White and Michael Cooper-White share insights from their extensive experience as parish ministers, church agency executives, and seminary educators in diverse multicultural and international contexts. Pamela, an Episcopal priest who teaches pastoral theology, care, and counseling, is also a pastoral psychotherapist with an extensive clinical background. Michael, a Lutheran pastor and seminary president, is also a pilot and flight instructor and has served as a chaplain with the Civil Air Patrol.

The authors share their wisdom with seminarians and other readers seeking to deepen theological reflection and expand skills as ministry practitioners. While not all readers are preparing to be ordained ministers, most will engage in many of the practices described in the book: preaching and public speaking, teaching, leading liturgies, conducting ceremonies, counseling and offering pastoral support for persons undergoing life transitions, and serving as organizational leaders in congregations, chaplaincies, social ministries, and in the public arena. This book is a companion journal for pilgrims on the way to becoming confident practitioners of ministry.

Pamela Cooper-White, MDiv, PhD, LCPC, is Christiane Brooks Johnson Professor Emerita of Psychology and Religion and dean emerita at Union Theological Seminary in New York; an Episcopal priest and licensed psychotherapist; and the 2013-2014 Fulbright-Freud Scholar of Psychoanalysis in Vienna, Austria. An award-winning author, she has published ten books, including Many Voices: Pastoral Psychotherapy in Relational and Theological Perspective and The Psychology of Christian Nationalism. She is active on several editorial, academic, and psychoanalytic boards, and is a frequent speaker nationally and internationally.

Michael Cooper-Whiteserves as the twelfth president of Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg in Pennsylvania. He has led the school through multiple transitions, including the creation of the award-winning Seminary Ridge Museum. He teaches and writes about church administration and leadership and is a consultant to churches in Central and South America. He is also a pilot and certified flight instructor.Cooper-White is a regular columnist with The Lutheran magazine.