P Pastoral Training and Ministry: A Continuous Pastoral Formation Daniel Nii Aboagye Aryeh Perez University College, Winneba, Ghana Introduction The field of pastoral ministry is very broad and involves (Duffy 1992, pp. 597–606) (i) human formation, the natural formation of the material nature of humans; (ii) academic/intellectual for- mation, the formation of the intellectual capacity of the human person to appreciate and emphasize truth and justice; (iii) moral and spiritual forma- tion, the formation of moral and spiritual tenacity of the human person to embrace and pursue the good of all and behave accordingly toward all; and (iv) pastoral formation, to be formed in the grace and mercy of God to live together cordially and tolerate others and their views and to appre- ciatively promote pastoral duties in every situa- tion. It is mainly a psychological issue to form an individual for ministry with the five elements of pastoral ministry. In this context, I use psychology from a behaviorist approach to refer to cognitive processes, experiences, and emotions that influ- ence human formation and behavior (Loewenthal 2017), which has sociological and anthropologi- cal undercurrents. All the essentials for pastoral ministerial for- mation cannot be adequately achieved within the prescribed 3 or 4 year ’ s seminary/Bible School training for undergraduate degree programs. In this entry, I argue that pastoral formation is a very significant determinant for effective pastoral ministry and must be a continuous lifelong con- textual activity based on the psychology of the candidate in order to better serve the larger soci- ety. Pastoral formation should not be limited to the building of the conscience of the individual to serve but to also give orientation to the candidate concerning the social psychology of his/her audi- ence and the intellectual capacity to consistently upgrade one’ s knowledge with current and emerg- ing issues in the field. Pastoral Formation: A Continuous Activity Pastoral formation is a critical element in training and being sustained in pastoral ministry, a contin- uous transformational learning that influences the human person as a representative of the nature of Jesus as a shepherd to the community of Chris- tians and non-Christians and to himself/herself in varying situations. It is a theological reflection by self, because it “is a self-conscious, intentional act in which one seeks to know God and be known by God so that one can love God and others as God loves. It is theological because it consciously relates the divine to the human in a way that © Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2019 D. A. Leeming (ed.), Encyclopedia of Psychology and Religion, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27771-9_200090-1