Princeton Seminary professor nurtures spiritual formation in students to provide effective pastoral care for the church
The Rev. Dr. Deborah van Deusen Hunsinger believes it is important to function from a place of discerning God’s presence, rather than from one where an individual feels compelled to bring God into the situation.
The Rev. Dr. Deborah van Deusen Hunsinger
“We are called to participate in Christ’s work in the world,” said Hunsinger, the Charlotte W. Newcombe Professor of Pastoral Theology at Princeton Theological Seminary. “We are not called to be Christ’s presence.”
That knowledge is what she tries to impart in her students at Princeton Seminary, where spiritual formation is a primary commitment. The aim is to give students basic guidance “for a lifelong path of learning and growth and ministry,” Hunsinger said.
A Presbyterian minister and a fellow in the American Association of Pastoral Counselors, Hunsinger is particularly interested in educating clergy and laity to offer theologically sound and psychologically informed pastoral care in the church.
Her course load at Princeton Seminary, where Hunsinger has served since 1994, includes classes on the theory, practice and clinical skills of pastoral care. She particularly believes self-awareness is key to how pastors and other church leaders best serve others.
“Every pastor needs to be aware of themselves,” she said. “Their own anxiety is a barometer.”
Hunsinger said if pastors don’t have modes of self care, then they are subject to either burnout or acting out. “I want the students to develop as whole persons,” she said.
In one course Hunsinger teaches, students are required to commit to a daily discipline of prayer, spending 20 minutes a day reading and meditating on Scripture. “It’s really to be fed,” said Hunsinger, who is the author of Pray without Ceasing: Revitalizing Pastoral Care.
Time and time again students have said “how rejuvenating this course is for their personal faith,” she said.
Hunsinger also educates her students about the hazards of isolation, which she said is one of the most detrimental and destructive things that can happen to a minister. “We are called to live in community,” she said.
From a practical standpoint, it is important for every student to be a member of some kind of group where their own vulnerability can be expressed, said Hunsinger, who holds a doctorate from Union Theological Seminary in New York City. “It’s a place where they are not in charge, where they are not the one who has all the answers.”
She models this way if living in her own walk too. Over the course of her years Hunsinger has actively participated in spiritual direction groups, and most recently she has been part of a group of women who have met together for five years to “share our lives.” This is years of experience practicing what is being preached, she said.
Hunsinger said Princeton Seminary’s ongoing commitment to nurturing spiritual formation can be seen in a number of ways, including daily chapel.
In chapel one can take time out “for prayer and song and … reflection and community,” she said. “Worship is definitely very formative and not to be dismissed or taken lightly.”
Additionally, there is an emphasis on learning how to read theology spiritually, Hunsinger said.
“Many of our faculty have backgrounds as pastors” she said. They really care about theology and practice, and many ... are open to students integrating practices into their coursework.”
Ultimately, with all the preparation and guidance in spiritual formation, “I think that students will appreciate it even more when they look back at it,” Hunsinger said.
