Introduction to Forum: Graceful Eldercare

Abstract

These writings dedicated to Professor William M. Clements, Professor Emeritus of Pastoral Care and Counseling at Claremont School of Theology (CST), started as a collegial conversation between the two of us (Michael and Janet). Our dialogue expanded to include other CST graduates who had studied with Bill Clements. This broadening of the conversation circle reflects the generative spirit of Bill who for almost two decades mentored students in graduate theological education at CST. Bill Clements shared willingly of his own strengths and challenges, never hiding behind an academic facade of pretense and perfection. Perhaps because of his own authenticity and self-acceptance, Bill easily accepted other people just as they are. Through his presence, Bill encouraged students to reflect creatively and to take risks in their academic and ministerial vocations. Bill followed his own advice by initiating a supervisory education track in the clinical training of the Ph.D. program in Pastoral Care and Counseling at Claremont. The vision and good sense of Bill Clements represent legacies that inhabit the teaching and care ministries of his students. Articles in this journal edition address ministry with the aging, expanding the conversation on a topic that captured Professor Clements’ attention for some 30 years of his career. We chose the title “Graceful Eldercare” to express our conviction that caregivers are called to honor the integrity and wholeness of each person along life’s journey, older adults being no exception. Carroll Saussy’s (1998) rendering of grace, “the action of God’s spirit within, luring beings to live as fully and generatively as possible,” names our intention for care (p. 14). The contributors to this issue show manifold ways of exhibiting grace in ministries with older adults. Pastoral Psychol (2011) 60:7–9 DOI 10.1007/s11089-010-0325-4