Sue M. Holdsworth 
Learning to Love [EPUB ebook] 
Utilizing the Principles and Practices of Pastoral Care for Mission

Many churches actively seek to welcome migrants through various church-based activities such as language lessons, cooking, or gardening clubs. These and similar activities often aim to be missional or evangelistic, seeking to communicate the love of God and neighbor. The author explores how the love of God and neighbor can be expressed effectively through the implementation of pastoral care principles and practices. These include expressing love through empathy, hospitality, group prayer, and spiritual formation. When the functions of pastoral care are evident, mission and evangelism occur naturally and at the appropriate time.
This book is the result of the author’s Ph D study of four church-based intercultural initiatives aimed at welcoming migrants. Two churches offering English conversation classes, a sewing club, and employment training classes were observed. Volunteers and pastoral staff were interviewed, and church documents were examined. This empirical research demonstrates that when volunteers are trained in principles and practices of pastoral care, when church systems and supervision support them in their tasks, and when group planning and reflection occur, the love of God and neighbor will be effectively expressed to migrants attending these initiatives.

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Sue M. Holdsworth is an Aussie Brit and has lived in Melbourne, Australia, for over twenty years. She is a post-doctoral researcher at Eva Burrows College, University of Divinity whose research interests include learning how Christians in Western societies can effectively express the love of God through the course of everyday life. This is because the church is now smaller in many western countries than in other, traditionally missionary receiving countries. She is also interested to learn how the church can demonstrate hospitality to migrants, as an expression of God’s love.As a missiologist and a practical theologian, She is concerned to have her research read as widely as possible. To this end, she host a weekly blog in which she explore aspects of mission with an emphasis on interpersonal skills for mission.She is married to a pastor, Julian, and has three adult children.