Pastoral Assembling: Expanding the Notion of Pastoral Imagination
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Jonas Ideström
,
Tone Stangeland Kaufman
Abstract
This article introduces and develops pastoral assembling as a complementary concept to the established notion of pastoral imagination, which has shaped discussions on pastoral learning and agency in practical theology. While pastoral imagination foregrounds the embodied and relational capacity of individual pastors, it remains limited in addressing the distributed and networked nature of pastoral work. Drawing on sociomaterial theories, this study explores how pastoral agency and learning emerge through dynamic networks of human and non-human actors. Two empirical cases from Scandinavian studies are presented to illustrate pastoral assembling: one involving a novice pastor navigating a bereavement situation and another featuring a senior pastor engaging with a scattered rural parish in Sweden. By emphasizing the distributed nature of pastoral agency, the notion of pastoral assembling complements and expands the theological insights of pastoral imagination, offering new pathways for studying and supporting pastoral learning and practice.
Zusammenfassung
Dieser Artikel führt den Begriff des pastoral assembling ein und entwickelt ihn als komplementäres Konzept zum etablierten Begriff der pastoral imagination, der die Diskussionen über pastorales Lernen und pastorale Handlungsmacht in der Praktischen Theologie geprägt hat. Während die pastorale Imagination die verkörperte und relationale Fähigkeit einzelner Pastorinnen und Pastoren in den Vordergrund stellt, bleibt sie in der Auseinandersetzung mit der verteilten und vernetzten Natur pastoraler Arbeit begrenzt. Unter Rückgriff auf soziomaterielle Theorien untersucht diese Studie, wie pastorale Handlungsmacht und Lernen durch dynamische Netzwerke menschlicher und nicht-menschlicher Akteure entstehen. Zwei empirische Fälle aus skandinavischen Kontexten veranschaulichen pastoral assembling: zum einen der Fall einer angehenden Pastor, die eine Trauersituation bewältigt, und zum anderen der einer erfahrenen Pastor, die mit einer verstreuten ländlichen Gemeinde in Schweden arbeitet. Indem das verteilte Wesen pastoraler Handlungsmacht betont wird, ergänzt und erweitert das Konzept pastoral assembling die theologischen Einsichten der pastoralen Imagination und eröffnet neue Wege zur Erforschung und Unterstützung pastoralen Lernens und Handelns.
© 2025 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Frontmatter
- Editorial
- International Report
- Islamic Religious Education and Practical Theology: Disciplinary Profiles and Key Research Areas in the German-Speaking Context
- Research Articles
- A Variety of Critical Connections: Qualitative Empirical Research in Flanders, Belgium on the Experiences of lgbtq+ Persons in the Roman Catholic Church
- Queer Theology on Social Media: A Reflection on Queer Pastoral Influencers on Instagram
- Your Story: Exploring the Faith Journeys of Young Australians
- Border Thinking in the Training of Imams and Muslim Caregivers
- Islamische Militärseelsorge in Deutschland zwischen Kriegs- und Friedensethik
- German “Kirchentheorie”: Theory of Church between doctrinal Ecclesiology and Social Sciences
- Pastoral Assembling: Expanding the Notion of Pastoral Imagination
- Book Reviews
- James Emery White, Hybrid Church: Rethinking the Church for a Post-Christian Digital Age, Grand Rapids (Zondervan Reflective) 2023, 230 pp., ISBN 978-0-310-14297-3, $13.66
- Jones, Jeffrey D., and Fredrickson, David. Being Church in a Liminal Time: Remembering, Letting Go, Resurrecting, Blue Ridge Summit (Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Incorporated, 2023), 128 pp., ISBN 9781538174500, £16.99, (pb) $22 USD
- Amy Panton, Soul Care for Self-Injury: Theological Reflection and Spiritual Care Strategies, Toronto (Mad and Crip Theology Press) 2024, 269 pp., ISBN 978-1-0689061-0-7, $40.00 CA.
- Munther Isaac, Christ in the Rubble. Faith, Bible, and the Genocide in Gaza, Grand Rapids (Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.) 2025, 279 pp., ISBN 978–0802885548, $24.99
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Frontmatter
- Editorial
- International Report
- Islamic Religious Education and Practical Theology: Disciplinary Profiles and Key Research Areas in the German-Speaking Context
- Research Articles
- A Variety of Critical Connections: Qualitative Empirical Research in Flanders, Belgium on the Experiences of lgbtq+ Persons in the Roman Catholic Church
- Queer Theology on Social Media: A Reflection on Queer Pastoral Influencers on Instagram
- Your Story: Exploring the Faith Journeys of Young Australians
- Border Thinking in the Training of Imams and Muslim Caregivers
- Islamische Militärseelsorge in Deutschland zwischen Kriegs- und Friedensethik
- German “Kirchentheorie”: Theory of Church between doctrinal Ecclesiology and Social Sciences
- Pastoral Assembling: Expanding the Notion of Pastoral Imagination
- Book Reviews
- James Emery White, Hybrid Church: Rethinking the Church for a Post-Christian Digital Age, Grand Rapids (Zondervan Reflective) 2023, 230 pp., ISBN 978-0-310-14297-3, $13.66
- Jones, Jeffrey D., and Fredrickson, David. Being Church in a Liminal Time: Remembering, Letting Go, Resurrecting, Blue Ridge Summit (Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Incorporated, 2023), 128 pp., ISBN 9781538174500, £16.99, (pb) $22 USD
- Amy Panton, Soul Care for Self-Injury: Theological Reflection and Spiritual Care Strategies, Toronto (Mad and Crip Theology Press) 2024, 269 pp., ISBN 978-1-0689061-0-7, $40.00 CA.
- Munther Isaac, Christ in the Rubble. Faith, Bible, and the Genocide in Gaza, Grand Rapids (Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.) 2025, 279 pp., ISBN 978–0802885548, $24.99
