Analysis of current pastoral care practice, particularly of Christian pastoral care providers and chaplains, reveals a contemporary lacuna in Christian theological frameworks which contributes to North American Christians’ inability to connect a theological understanding of death with the experience of their human finitude despite the presence of considerable literature on death and dying. This gap deprives many Christians of the possibility of finding a unique and specific source of hope and strength within their own faith tradition for facing crisis. This thesis provides a methodology and theological foundation for a uniquely Christian contribution for facilitating hope, resilience--even transformation--throughout the various stages of life until the time of death. Extensive analysis of Christian views of death, as contrasted with non- Christian views, examined through early Christian writings, late Medieval and early Reformation texts, and the late twentieth century work of Moltmann contributed insights into theological frameworks to remedy the gap and also uncovered themes, metaphors, and language that could be important as Christians interpret life experience and dying. The thesis then utilized three contemporary fields of study to apply the insights into a practical ministry model: (1) research in resilience; (2) Narrative Therapy as developed by White and Epston and utilized by Christian therapists; and (3) hermeneutic theory from Capps, Browning, and Gerkin. Insights from these sources were critically evaluated for application in pastoral counselling, support, and education to help people, both in crisis and when facing death, find a substantial hope that transcends the reality of what they are experiencing. This thesis proposes a distinctively Christian response to death that enables people to retain a sense of their own worth and dignity in order to live meaningful lives until they die. Many people find 21st Century healthcare impersonal and non-empathetic; the work of this theses is intended to be important for helping people regain their sense of self and identity, thereby supporting healing and resilience. In addition, the thesis proposes pedagogic and theological reflection methods that would enhance the practice of chaplains in a rapidly changing healthcare environment that will increasingly require them to demonstrate how their practice enhances the wellbeing of those they serve and provides a contribution that is unique and has value to the healthcare system.

Submitted by Diogo Misoguti (diogo.misoguti@gmail.com) on 2016-06-21T11:29:31Z No. of bitstreams: 1 talitha-de-medeiros-moreira.pdf: 773381 bytes, checksum: 71f9341cd83d2c4d09423f5737636118 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Diogo Misoguti (diogo.misoguti@gmail.com) on 2016-06-21T11:30:04Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 talitha-de-medeiros-moreira.pdf: 773381 bytes, checksum: 71f9341cd83d2c4d09423f5737636118 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-06-21T11:30:04Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 talitha-de-medeiros-moreira.pdf: 773381 bytes, checksum: 71f9341cd83d2c4d09423f5737636118 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-12 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) / Este trabalho tem como objetivo investigar as possibilidades de novos campos de experimentação em meio ao que Michel Foucault denominou focos de experiência. Enquanto o conceito de foco de experiência trata da relação entre as três instâncias constituintes do pensamento: saber, norma e subjetividade; a noção de campo experimental é empregada para mostrar uma decisão de vivenciar relações que interrogam as delimitações colocadas pelos focos de experiência. Sustenta-se a hipótese de que por ter sido transpassada por características próprias do foco de experiência pastoral cristão, a educação contemporânea vem demandando dos sujeitos educacionais campos de experiência contidos em estreitos limites. Tais características apontadas são: a confissão e a arte de conduzir. Ao serem problematizadas, elas indicam a marca da governamentalidade pastoral na educação, refletindo assim os procedimentos disciplinares, táticas e controles que incidem não apenas sobre os campos experimentais de cada sujeito individualmente, mas de todos os sujeitos. Para que se possa sustentar tal hipótese dois movimentos são desenvolvidos. De um lado, são empregados esforços teóricos: por meio de estudos sobre os conceitos axiais tratados no trabalho e já estudados por Foucault. De outro lado, busca-se articular a dimensão conceitual com a sua atualização por intermédio de documentos reguladores, estudos históricos e experiências vividas na educação contemporânea do país. Como ferramenta para se pensar ações dentro de um regime de verdade educacional permeado pela pastoral cristã, elege-se a atitude crítica e o quanto a conscientização e a negação das maneiras como se é governado podem ou não possibilitar diversos campos experimentais nos focos de experiência intrínsecos à educação. / This study aims to investigate the possibilities of new experimental fields in the midst of what Michel Foucault called "focus of experience". While the concept of focus of experience deals with the relationship between the three constituent pieces of thought: knowledge, norm and subjectivity; the notion of experimental field deals with the interrogation of the boundaries imposed by the focus of experience. The hypothesis suggests that for being pierced by the characteristics of the focus of christian pastoral experience, the contemporary education is demanding from educational subjects, experimental fields contained within narrow limits. These identified features are: confession and the art of conduct. When they are problematized, they demonstrate the brand of pastoral governmentality in education, reflecting the disciplinary procedures, tactics and controls that affect not only the experimental fields of each subject individually, but in all subjects. In order to sustain this hypothesis two movements are developed. On the one hand, theoretical efforts are used: through studies of the axial concepts treated at work and already studied by Foucault. On the other hand, seeks to articulate the conceptual dimension with its update through regulatory documents, historical studies and experiences in contemporary education in Brazil. As a tool for thinking actions within an educational regime of truth permeated by the christian pastoral, elects to critical attitude and how much awareness and denial of the ways subjects are governed may or may not allow several experimental fields in focus of experience intrinsic to education