Abstract
Concern for the identity of the pastoral counselor and of the local pastor has been given much attention recently.1 Part of the problem
facing the religious functionary is that modern society has been looking to the scientist and the therapist for integration and synthesis of meaning2 rather than to the minister who performed this symbolic integrative function throughout history. Today, the sacred has become secular because of pluralism and rapid social changes which found their origin in the Reformation; as a result, the pastor has sought to identify with the secular sources of his/her authority and identity. However, this trend toward the secularization of the pastor’s identity seems to be declining, and there appears on the horizon a movement toward the reclamation of the transcendent, the spiritual, and religious resources of the Christian Heritage in ministry and in pastoral care.3