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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

Teaching & Research Interests

Pam McCarroll joined the faculty at Emmanuel College in 2016 as an Associate Professor of Practical Theology. She came to Emmanuel after teaching in the area of pastoral theology for eight years at our sister institution Knox College and, prior to that, serving as a Supervisor-Educator at hospitals in Toronto and Hamilton. Pam’s major research and teachings have focussed 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 is focusing more on the climate crisis and practical theology and she is offering leadership in the field in this area. She is also teaching, researching and publishing on inter-religious spiritual care and chaplaincy. Pam has also published in the area of spirituality and health, inter-religious spiritual care education, and methodology in practical theology.

 

Books, edited volumes & special issues

Articles/chapters

  • “This Changes Everything: De-colonizing Theo-Anthropology Toward an Earth-Centered Approach to Pastoral Theology,” Journal of Pastoral Theology, 33.1., 2023. https://www.tandfonline.com/eprint/FSBE6GMIGRZUMQGZQNDW/full?target=10.1080/10649867.2023.2204277

  • “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)1-14.  https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/13/4/294

  • With Dagmar Grefe, “Section IV: Meaning Making Competencies,” in Spiritual Care and Chaplaincy for the 21st Century, Wendy Cadge and Shelly Rambo, eds. North Carolina: University of North Carolina Press, 2022. https://uncpress.org/book/9781469667607/chaplaincy-and-spiritual-care-in-the-twenty-first-century/

  • “Listening for the Cries of the Earth: Practical Theology in the Anthropocene,” International Journal for Practical Theology, 24.1, 2020. https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/ijpt-2019-0013/html

  • “What are Humans for? Decolonizing Theological Anthropology in the Anthropocene,” Christian Theology After Christendom, editors Pamela McCarroll & Patricia Kirkpatrick. Minneapolis: Fortress/Lexington Press, 2020. 
     https://rowman.com/ISBN/9781978706989/Christian-Theology-After-Christendom-Engaging-the-Thought-of-Douglas-John-Hall
  • “The Future of Spiritual Care and Chaplaincy as a Profession in the Canadian Context,” 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, 203 (March 2019), 1-13. https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/10/3/203

  • “Love Rages and Weeps: Suffering and Holy Possibility,” Suffering and God, Concilium International Journal of Theology, 2016, vol. 3. Fall 2016.

  • With Tracy J. Trothen & William L. Pickett, "Transforming Knowledge: Empowering Spiritual Care Practitioners for Evidence-Based Practice,” inThriving on the Edge: Integrating Spiritual Practice, Theory and Research, eds. Thomas St. James O’Connor, Angela Schmidt, Kristine Lund. Waterloo: WLS, 2016, 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, 222-231.

  • “Hope Matters in Changing Times,” Faith Matters in Changing TimesTJT (Special Issue), 2015, 67-80.

 

Memberships & Ecclesial Affiliations

  • 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
  • Member, International Academy of Practical Theology (IAPT)
  • Member, Society of Pastoral Theology
  • Co-Chair/co-founder, Pastoral Theology and the Climate Crisis Study Group

 

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