The Journal of Pastoral Theology

Book and movie reviews are accepted from invited reviewers. They are not peer-reviewed or indexed.

Please follow these guidelines when preparing a book or movie review.

DEADLINES: Our goal is to publish timely reviews, so please take deadlines seriously.

CONTENT OF REVIEW: Reviews should be

• Incisive: don't simply summarize the book and provide a brief commentary at the end!  Instead, indicate the range and nature of its content, the author's purpose and the way he or she fulfills that purpose.  Compare the book with other books of similar kind or intent.  Locate the book within a historical perspective if that seems relevant.

A note about edited works: these are especially challenging to review.  Again, don't try to summarize every chapter, or say something about every contribution. Instead, give a brief characterization of the book as a whole by talking about the purpose of the editors, whether this was achieved, the quality and thoroughness of the contributions, how the book as a whole is located within the discipline of pastoral theology, its strengths and weakness, and so on.

• Integrative: locate the book within the field of pastoral theology. Think especially about the author's implicit or explicit pastoral theological method and how his/her use and discussion of method contributes to ongoing discussions about methodology in pastoral theology.
• Balanced: highlight both strengths and weakness
• Provocative: take a stance and then elaborate why you have taken this stance.

LENGTH OF REVIEW:

a.  750-1,500 words for books less than 200 pages; 1,500 to 2,000 words for books over 200 pages.

b.  Write less if the book is not worth it.

FORMATTING CHECK LIST [please print this out so that you can refer to it as you are preparing your review; submissions not correctly formatted will be returned to authors]

_____1. Format for bibliographical information. Please follow the example below  EXACTLY including all of the information needed---hard or soft cover, page length and price. (Note that reviewer's name and institution are right justified)

CRITICAL CARING: A FEMINIST MODEL FOR PASTORAL PSYCHOLOGY

Valerie M. DeMarinis

Louisville, KY: Westminster/John Knox Press, 1993. Hard [OR Soft ]cover. 159 pp. $22.00

Reviewed by Carolyn Bohler,

United Theology Seminary

_____2. FONT: Times Roman 12 pt

 

_____3. SPACING: Single spaced; no double spacing between paragraphs; double spacing

before and after indented quotations, between endnotes, and between references.

 

_____4. MARGINS: 1 inches on all sides.

 

_____5. SUBHEADINGS: If the review exceeds 1,000 words use subheadings to clarify its

organization, with a subheading occurring every 500 words.

 

_____6. APA FORMATTING OF PARENTHETICAL REFERENCES for all references

and quotations, including text being reviewed.

• If the quote is in the text of a paragraph, put the parenthetical reference after the quotation marks and before the period. For example, "Feminist models of caring are important" (DeMarinis, 1993, p. 4).
• If the parenthetical reference comes at the end of an indented quotation, put the parenthetical reference after the period. For example,

Feminist models are important...and highly relevant...so on, so on, so on, so on,.............................................. for a couple of lines. (DeMarinis, 1993, p. 4)

 

_____7. In APA style, when you refer to the title of a book within the body of the review, it is

italicized and all major terms are capitalized:  Critical Caring: A Feminist Model for

Pastoral  Psychology provides a useful textbook for students...

 

_____8. If you need to, use endnotesnot footnotes, and use Arabic numbers (1, 2, 3); single

space your footnotes (double space between footnotes) and use Times Roman 12 pt font.

 

_____9. Provide a centered, bold subheading before endnotes:

Endnotes

 

_____10. If you need to include a reference list, put it after the endnotes at the end of the

review, and  provide a centered, bold subheading before references:

References

_____10. In formatting your reference list, remember that in APA style, only initials are used

for first names, and with multiple authors, a comma follows the name of the first author. Here are some examples:

 

Burck, J. R., & Hunter, R. J. (1990).  Pastoral theology, Protestant.  In R. J. Hunter (Ed.), Dictionary of pastoral care and counseling (pp. 867-872).  Nashville, TN: Abingdon.

Graham, E., Walton, H., & Ward, H.  (2007). Theological reflection: Sources. London, SCM.

Hunter, R. J. (1995). Five questions and polemical suggestions for the future of pastoral theology. Journal of Pastoral Theology, 5, 8-20.

 

Please note: The editor may make minor changes in manuscripts without informing the reviewer when such changes appear to be appropriate (e.g., to clarify or to correct formatting).

Here are excerpts from a sample review that provide plenty of examples of the formatting guidelines:

THEOLOGICAL REFLECTION: METHODS

Elaine Graham, Heather Walton, and Frances Ward

London: SCM  Press, 2005.  Soft cover.  247 pp. $34.99

Reviewed by Carrie Doehring,

Iliff School of Theology

Over the past fifteen years, as interest in postmodern approaches to knowledge has grown among pastoral theologians and practitioners, there have been lively discussions about methodology. Articulating one's method, described by Jennings (1990) as third order reflections[1] can be likened to the work of navigation; such discussions chart the course of where pastoral theology has been and where it is going as a discipline. Indeed, the bibliography of articles and chapters on pastoral theological method, from Hiltner's (1958) Preface to Pastoral Theology, to Browning (1983), Poling and Miller (1985), Hunter and Burck (1990), Ramsay (2004), and Marshall (2004), provides important historical markers for defining who pastoral theologians and practitioners are and what they do......

Whereas much of the bibliography on pastoral theological method is more often found on doctoral rather than masters level syllabi, Theological Reflection: Methods is written in a style that makes it accessible to the educated lay person.  Elaine Graham, one of the foremost feminist practical theologians of the late 20^th and early 21^st century, Heather Walton, and Frances Ward[2]demonstrate an amazing ability to speak plainly about complex matters of methodology.

Graham et al. base their examination of methodology on the assumption that practical theology is not simply a matter of examining practice through the lens of theology; rather, it is constructive theology.  Most importantly, the work of constructive theology is not confined to the academy; it is at the center of the lifelong learning that characterizes faithful practice:

 

At the heart of theological reflection, therefore, are questions about the relationship of theory and practice, and how to connect theological discourse about the nature of God to the exercise of faith. This is an endeavour shared by laity and clergy: Christian practice is not simply about the duties of congregational ministry but the entire life and witness of the Church. It is predominantly a critical interrogative enquiry into the process of relating the resources of faith to the issues of life. The exercise of theological reflection is thus one ‘in which pastoral experience serves as a context for critical development of basic theological understanding' (Burck and Hunter, 1990, p. 867). (Graham, et al., 2005, p. 6)

 

Endnotes

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[1] First order reflections on religion are expressions and narratives about beliefs that often put into words one's embedded theology; second order reflections utilize theological perspectives to reflect upon or deliberate over one's beliefs.

 

2 Ward's (2005) book, Lifelong Learning: Theological Education and Supervision, is, I believe, one of the best current texts on supervision using postmodern approaches to knowledge.

References

Anderson, H., & Foley, E. (1998). Mighty stories, dangerous rituals: Weaving together the human and the divine. San Francisco: Jossey Bass.

Bonhoeffer, D. (1954). Life Together.London: SCM.

Burck, J. R., & Hunter, R. J. (1990).  Pastoral theology, Protestant.  In R. J. Hunter (Ed.), Dictionary of pastoral care and counseling (pp. 867-872).  Nashville, TN: Abingdon.

Graham, E., Walton, H., & Ward, H.  (2007). Theological reflection: Sources. London, SCM.

Hunter, R. J. (1995). Five questions and polemical suggestions for the future of pastoral theology. Journal of Pastoral Theology, 5, 8-20.

Jennings, T. W., Jr. (1990).  Pastoral theological methodology. In R. J. Hunter (Ed.), Dictionary of pastoral care and counseling (pp. 862-864). Nashville, TN: Abingdon.

Marshall, J. (2004).  Methods in pastoral theology, care, and counseling.  In N. J. Ramsay (Ed.), Pastoral care and counseling: Redefining the paradigms (pp. 133-154). Nashville, TN: Abingdon.

Ramsay, N. J. (2004). A time of ferment and redefinition. In N. J. Ramsay (Ed.),Pastoral care and counseling: Redefining the paradigms (pp. 1-43). Nashville, TN: Abingdon.

Ward, F. (2005). Lifelong learning: Theological education and supervision. London: SCM.

All issues of The Journal of Pastoral Theology are indexed in the ATLA Religion Database, available through most libraries.

This publication is designed for accurate research and scholarly dialogue. It makes no claim to provide legal or professional services.

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