Payne Jennifer Shepard
Department of Social Work, School of Behavioral and Applied Sciences, Azusa Pacific University, PO Box 7000, Azusa, CA, 91702-7000, USA.
J Relig Health. 2017 Aug;56(4):1419-1435. doi: 10.1007/s10943-017-0363-7.
Pastors serving low-income urban areas are first-responders to emotional issues by default, since fewer mental health resources are available. Thus, it is important to understand how pastors serving urban resource-poor areas reflect on their counseling role. Forty-eight Black, Hispanic, and White pastors with urban congregations in Los Angeles or Chicago reflect on their pastoral calling and its relation to their counseling role. Through phenomenology, the pastors' lived experiences as they counseled in an urban context were explored. Analysis revealed complex feelings about their counseling role in light of their resource-poor environments. Recommendations are provided based on the findings.
