Be Not Anxious: Pastoral Care of Disquieted Souls

by Allan Hugh Cole Jr.

Overview

As Allan Cole knows firsthand, both personally and pastorally, Christians are not immune from anxiety, and many believers go to their church leaders for support and solace. This helpful book draws on narrative approaches to theology and counseling to suggest how pastoral caregivers may effectively minister to anxious persons.

Be Not Anxious provides pastors and other caregivers with a basic understanding of anxiety, including how to identify those suffering from it and how to get at what is making them anxious. Cole focuses both on cognitive-based methods and on common faith practices — church membership, frequent worship, prayer, Bible reading, service, and confession — showing how these may provide relief from anxiety. By addressing the roles of both psychiatry and ministry as co-liberators from anxiety, he leads the pastor and the faith community in helping disquieted souls to find rest.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780802863102
Publisher:	Eerdmans, William B. Publishing Company
Publication date:	11/01/2008
Pages:	238
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Allan Hugh Cole Jr. is the Nancy T. Williamson Associate Professor of Pastoral Care at Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary, Austin, Texas. His previous works include From Midterms to Ministry: Practical Theologians on Pastoral Beginnings (Eerdmans).

Editorial Reviews

Donald Capps, Princeton Theological Seminary
"A beautifully constructed, interdisciplinary work. . . Pastors, seminarians, and pastoral theologians will find that it provides an invaluable perspective for understanding anxiety and those for whom anxiety is a distressing reality of life."
 
Harold G. Koenig, M.D., Duke University Medical Center
"To see this subject addressed so openly, with both frankness and gentleness, is rare indeed. A must-read for all those engaged in pastoral care — and a should-read for parishioners as well."
 
Bonnie Miller-McLemore, Vanderbilt Divinity School
"Fear not, Allan Cole insists, in the face of a plight that plagues all of us to varying degrees. He locates relief in age-old faith practices that realign our thinking and feeling with the promises of faith. His book will empower pastors in their ministry with the dispirited and will inspire readers in general to see the value of dialogue between modern psychology and Christianity."
 
William H. Willimon, Bishop of the United Methodist Church
"An informed, astute explanation of a human malady that, framed by the cross of Christ, can be a divine gift. Any pastor must care for disquieted souls and those who suffer because of anxiety. Allan Hugh Cole deepens our understanding of this phenomenon using both psychology and theology, but mostly theology. Anxiety is more than a psychological condition to be healed; it is also a typical component of discipleship. This is an eloquent, very helpful book."
 
Hetty Zock, University of Groningen, The Netherlands
"Gripping. In a deeply personal way, Allan Cole shows how parish pastors may take care of anxious persons — 'disquieted souls' — in our confusing and hectic world. A creative synthesis of theological and psychological thinking on anxiety, the book is written fluently in a clear and vivid style, using beautiful, evocative imagery and true-to-life illustrative narratives. . .  More than just a book on anxiety, Be Not Anxious is an excellent introduction to pastoral caregiving in an insecure time."

From the Publisher