Caring through technology: Using e-mail for Christian pastoral care

Traditionally, Christian pastoral care has always been given face-to-face. However, since the Internet made e-mail a common form of correspondence, people have been e-mailing friends to discuss problems and other matters. More formal pastoral care, involving a pastoral minister, has generally remained a face-to-face occurrence. This article explores the possibility of e-mail being used for Christian pastoral care and evaluates one such system being operated in the United Kingdom. The results show that with an empathic and positive response to the e-mails by the pastoral minister, e-mail pastoral care can increase positive emotion, and hence well-being, in the person seeking care. In addition, the religious aspect of Christian pastoral care seems to be important in initialising the minister–person relationship.

Research highlights
► The need for empathy in using e-mails.
► The requirement of congruency for the therapist or pastoral minister.
► Christian based e-mail pastoral care can increase well-being.
► The religious aspects of e-mail pastoral care may be important for some persons.