Remembering Our Ashes: Reclaiming Pastoral Leadership in a Death Averse Culture

Abstract

Although the subject of death and dying is integral to the Christian faith, its diluted and often scarce presence in parish ministry is a symptom of a Church brushing up against a society that, in many respects, prefers a narrative of death denial. This thesis aims to challenge the pastor in reclaiming their authority as one who accompanies the dying in pedagogy and presence while also bolstering their role as one who leads from their own finitude. This thesis addresses the question of how pastors effectively lead as those prepared to die when the temptation is often to attribute fault to the congregation for underappreciating the theological significance of dying well. The goal is to present the pastor as one who jointly embodies their parishioners’ conundrum around a faithful death through their leadership in baptism, visitation, and the funeral. Readers will discover how a congregation’s theology of death and dying stems significantly from their observations of how the pastor engages the subject in praxis. My research engages sources at the intersection of practical theology, anthropology, and medicine, particularly palliative and hospice care, in which care for the whole person offers helpful insight into why a community response to death is critical. I intend to account for the fluid dimensions of pastoring in a context with conflicting narratives about dying well. As this project emphasizes the necessary role of clergy at the end of life, it puts these sources in conversation with actual pastoral encounters and scriptural passages that treat themes of death and dying. Without a pastor’s intentional embodiment of death and resurrection, be it from the pulpit or at the bedside, a Christian theology of death succumbs to cultural pressures to displace it from view. This thesis proves why clergy must prioritize meaning-making throughout spaces of their daily ministry; otherwise, people will no longer view the Church as a place that will help them die faithfully.