Helsel Philip Browning
Princeton Theological Seminary Princeton, NJ, USA.
J Pastoral Care Counsel. 2009 Fall-Winter;63(3-4):6-1-8.
Proximity with issues of death and dying is one of the troubling aspects of ministry for many clergy. This article articulates the role of the minister as a liminal figure, a person who serves a ritual function in times of grief and loss, and who enables the creation of meaning in the in-between space between death and life. This liminal role is compared with that of the funeral director, as elaborated by Thomas Lynch in his memoir, The Undertaking. This paper suggests that while the liminal position is a difficult one for the pastor, it also provides some of the deepest satisfactions of ministry.
与死亡和临终问题的近距离接触是许多神职人员在从事神职工作时令人困扰的方面之一。本文阐述了牧师作为一个阈限人物的角色，即在悲伤和失落时刻履行仪式功能、在生死之间的过渡空间中促成意义创造的人。这种阈限角色与托马斯·林奇在其回忆录《殡葬业》中所阐述的殡仪馆馆长的角色进行了比较。本文认为，虽然阈限地位对牧师来说是艰难的，但它也带来了神职工作中一些最深层次的满足感。
