10 years ago, my wife and I co-wrote The Art of Pastoral Care. 17 years ago we had set up Bukal Life Ministries, which became Bukal Life Care & Counseling Center. We were training clinical chaplains and pastoral counselors in Baguio City, Philippines. Up to that point, our training materials tended to be a mishmash of articles and book chapters. There is nothing really wrong with that. In fact, we still do pull topics in our training from various sources. However, we wanted to build off of a foundation that we could feel good about.

There are so many philosophies of pastoral care and counseling. Some are very psychologically driven. Others take a very hostile view of the social sciences. We wanted one that is more driven by theology, but takes the social sciences seriously— open to the idea that they can help in areas of personal growth and counseling.

The book has been by far our most successful, with hundreds (I guess actually thousands) floating around in paper and electronic forms.

We have made modest changes over the years, but the original form structure is still maintained. That contrasts greatly from my book on Cultural Anthropology that has had chapters changed, a chapter added, cover changed, and title changed.