Teaching Spiritual Care in an Interfaith Context

Abstract

This article discusses the possibilities of teaching spiritual care in an interfaith context, notably in the Netherlands. It first explores the background processes of deinstitutionalization and pluralization, resulting in a fragmented religious landscape. The change in nomenclature from pastoral care to spiritual care in part reflects these changes. The middle part of the article describes key features of spiritual care from different traditions. It starts with Christian views of spiritual care (historically the oldest in this context) and then discusses how secular/Humanist, Muslim, Buddhist, and Hindu perspectives not only add to the picture of spiritual care, but challenge its key notions. The final part discusses options of intrafaith and interfaith approaches of spiritual care and ends with a description of the curriculum the authors developed to accommodate students from a variety of denominational backgrounds in a rich interfaith learning environment.