Counseling in Faith Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Counseling in Faith - Essay Example Pastoral service entails self actualization as it is a profession that gives a person the responsibility to act as a moral object to the society (Niklas 29). This aspect portrays one of the major roles of pastoral care apart from providing service to other people. Pastoral care also entails instilling a moral responsibility to through acting as a role model to the society. Many pastors, catechists and priest take up the role of the mirror in the society. For many students the essence of identity is professionalism. However vocation is a concrete factor influencing self identity as it is inspired by the desire to offer services to the community during the pastoral service. Pastoral care can therefore be referred to as a social service as well as a calling that pictures the pastoral minister as a role model as well as a servant to the society. Ethics in Pastoral Ministry Pastoral ministry has a broad application in the church than the council. Initially, the term minister was only refl ected to preachers in the protestant churches. Pastoral role had not been internalized and understood by many people in the society hence the term was used to focus on the ordinary meaning thus ignoring the deeper aspect of ministries. Currently, pastoral ministry has reflected on the bigger picture of pastoral identity which is service not only to the church but the entire community. The church acts as a symbol of pastoral service as being ordained only ushers people into the pastoral service but does not play the exact role in pastoral care. Catholic churches have strived to portray this notion through the roles that priests, clergymen and nuns play in the church. In the catholic community, the church is a symbol of the society. In this case, priests, clergymen and nuns act as servants of the societies in which they administer in church. Pastoral ethics are inspired by the moral character of a person. Priests, catechists and pastors have a moral obligation in a society as they are seen as model s of ethical values since their work entails the practice and teaching of good deeds in the society. However, ethical conduct does not come from the moral obligation but the virtues of a person. Virtues underscore the visions, roles and objectives of a pastoral minister. Pastoral minister are given the moral obligation of leading by example thus the moral values of a society are immensely contributed by the moral practices of a pastoral minister. There are many cases around the world relating to the morals and ethical conducts of church leaders. Many priests, catechists and pastors engage themselves in immoral behaviuors thus leading to the big question which is where or not to moral and ethical laws of conduct to religious leaders. The basic solution to this situation is to instill and enforce professional ethics to the religious leaders in order to limit them to the service of the society through the spreading of moral values. Professional ethics entails the use of professional duties to identify moral ethics. Priests, pastors and catechists have the duty of spreading the word of God to the people thus is expected to practice the content they preach to the society. This aspect makes religious leaders to be the reflection of moral character in a given society. When a person is ordained, he or she is given the