Pamela R. McCarroll

Vice-Principal
Jane and Geoffrey Martin Chair in Practical Theology 

• BA(Hons) English/Art History, University of Guelph, 1988
• MDiv Knox College, 1994
• PhD (Theology), University of St. Michael’s College, 2006
• Certified Supervisor-Educator, CASC, 2006
• Registered Psychotherapist, CRPO, 2015

Contact

• Phone: 416-585-4549
• Email: pam.mccarroll@utoronto.ca 

Teaching & Research Interests

Pamela McCarroll serves as the Jane and Geoffrey Martin Chair in Practical Theology. She joined the faculty at Emmanuel College in 2016 after teaching in the area of pastoral theology for several years at Knox College and, before that, serving as a Spiritual Care Educator and Director at hospitals in Toronto and Hamilton. Pam’s major research and teaching areas focus on the lived experience and possibility of hope in contexts of suffering. She is concerned with the intersections of suffering and hope in shaping healing practices and life together as communities and global citizens. Lately, her research focuses on the climate crisis and practical theology. She is recognized for her leadership in the field. She also teaches and publishes on inter-religious spiritual care and chaplaincy, spirituality and health, inter-religious spiritual care education and methodology in practical theology.

Books, edited volumes & special issues

• With Christine Tind Johannessen & Ryan LaMothe, editors, Climate Change and Pastoral Theology, Special Issue, Journal of Pastoral Theology, 2025, forthcoming.
• With Panu Pihkala & Ryan LaMothe, editors, Pastoral Theological and Psychological Reflections on Climate Change, special issue, Pastoral Psychology, 2025, 74.1. ~200 pages (R) 
• With HyeRan Kim-Cragg, Practical Theology Amid Environmental Crises, Special Issue, Religions 13, 2022 and special issue, Religions 13 (4).294, 2022.  ~200 pages.  https://www.mdpi.com/journal/religions/special_issues/ptaec
• With Dagmar Grefe, “Section IV: Meaning Making Competencies,” in Chaplaincy and Spiritual Care in the Twenty-First Century: An Introduction, Wendy Cadge and Shelly Rambo, eds. North Carolina: University of North Carolina Press, 2022. 1^st Author. 62 pages. https://uncpress.org/book/9781469667607/chaplaincy-and-spiritual-care-in-the-twenty-first-century/
• With Patricia Kirkpatrick, Christian Theology After Christendom: Engaging the Work of Douglas John Hall. Minneapolis: Lexington Press, 2021. Published in paperback, 2022. https://rowman.com/ISBN/9781978706989/Christian-Theology-After-Christendom-Engaging-the-Thought-of-Douglas-John-Hall
• With Pamela Couture, Robert Mager, Natalie Wigg, eds. Complex Identities in a Shifting World: Practical Theological Perspectives. Berlin: LIT Verlag, 2015.
• The End of Hope – The Beginning: Narratives of Hope in the Face of Suffering and Trauma. Minneapolis: Fortress, 2014. https://www.fortresspress.com/store/product/9780800699666/The-End-of-Hope-The-Beginning
• Waiting at the Foot of the Cross: Toward a Theology of Hope for Today. Distinguished Dissertations in Christian Theology Series. Eugene OR: Pickwick, 2014. https://wipfandstock.com/9781620320631/waiting-at-the-foot-of-the-cross/

Articles/chapters

• “Introduction to Pastoral Theological and Psychological Reflections on Climate Change,” Pastoral Psychology, Special Issue, 2025, 74.1, pp. 1–9. (R) Read online
• “Ecoanxiety, Trauma and Habits Toward Hope,” Canadian Journal of Theology, Mental Health and Disability, Trauma and Resistance Issue, 4.1, Spring 2024.
• “This Changes Everything: De-colonizing Theo-Anthropology Toward an Earth-Centered Approach to Pastoral Theology,” Journal of Pastoral Theology, 33.1, 2023. Read online
• “Embodying Theology: Trauma Theory, Climate Crisis, Practical and Pastoral Theology,” in Practical Theology amid Environmental Crises, Religions Special Issue, edited by Pamela R. McCarroll & HyeRan Kim-Cragg, 13.294 (March 2022), pp. 1–14. Featured Article, April MDPI Report. Read online
• With HyeRan Kim-Cragg, “Introduction,” Practical Theology Amid Environmental Crises, MDPI Pubs., 2022, pp. 2–7.
• With Dagmar Grefe, “Introduction: Meaning Making in Spiritual Care,” Chaplaincy and Spiritual Care in the Twenty-First Century: An Introduction, edited by Wendy Cadge and Shelly Rambo, University of North Carolina Press, 2022.
• “Meaning Making in Chaplaincy Practice: Presence, Assessment and Interventions,” in Chaplaincy and Spiritual Care in the Twenty-First Century: An Introduction, edited by Wendy Cadge and Shelly Rambo, University of North Carolina Press, 2022.
• “Listening for the Cries of the Earth: Practical Theology in the Anthropocene,” International Journal for Practical Theology, 24.1, 2020. Read online
• “What are Humans for? Decolonizing Theological Anthropology in the Anthropocene,” in Christian Theology After Christendom, edited by Pamela McCarroll & Patricia Kirkpatrick, Fortress/Lexington Press, 2020. Read online
• “The Future of Spiritual Care and Chaplaincy as a Profession in the Canadian Context,” in Multi-faith Perspectives in Canadian Religious and Spiritual Care, Canadian Multifaith Federation, 2019.
• “Keeping it Real: Decolonizing Christian Inter-religious Practice as an Exercise in a Practical Theology of the Cross,” Theology and Practical Life, Special Issue, Religions, 10.3, 2019, pp. 1–13. Read online
• “Love Rages and Weeps: Suffering and Holy Possibility,” Suffering and God, Concilium International Journal of Theology, vol. 3, Fall 2016.
• With Tracy J. Trothen & William L. Pickett, “Transforming Knowledge: Empowering Spiritual Care Practitioners for Evidence-Based Practice,” in Thriving on the Edge: Integrating Spiritual Practice, Theory and Research, edited by Thomas St. James O’Connor, Angela Schmidt, Kristine Lund, Waterloo: WLS, 2016, pp. 103–129.
• “Taking Inventory and Moving Forward: A Review of the Research Literature and Assessment of Qualitative Research in JPCC, 2010–2014,” JPCC, 69.4, December 2015, pp. 222–231.
• “Hope Matters in Changing Times,” Faith Matters in Changing Times, TJT (Special Issue), 2015, pp. 67–80.

Memberships & Ecclesial Affiliations

• Member, Steering Committee, Psychology, Culture & Religion Unit, American Academy of Religion, 2024–present
• Co-chair, Climate Change and Pastoral Theology Study Group, Society for Pastoral Theology (SPT), 2019–present
• Registered Psychotherapist (RP), College of Registered Psychotherapists of Ontario (CRPO), 2025–present
• Certified Supervisor-Educator (CSE), Canadian Association for Spiritual Care (CASC/ACSS), 2008–present
• Ordained minister of Word and Sacrament, Presbyterian Church in Canada
• Minister in Association, Armour Heights Church, Toronto
• Member, Luce Educating Effective Chaplains Group: Building a Network and a Field, consultation and research group, Boston University, 2019–2021
• Member, Social Sciences & Humanities Research Ethics Board, University of Toronto, 2018–2020
• Book Review Editor, Toronto Journal of Theology, 2017–2021
• Manager, Board of Managers, Journal of Pastoral Care Publications (JPCP), 2015–2022

Selected Courses

• EMP1513 Introduction to Counselling and Spiritual Care
• EMP 3521 Professional Ethics
• EMP3542 Integrating Theory & Practice
• EMP3561/6551 Family Systems for Spiritual Care and Counselling
• EMP 3560/6560 Suffering and Hope
• EMP 3xxx/6xxx Eco-therapeutic Approaches in the face of Climate Change
• EMP 5xxx Trauma and Theology