earticle

영어

‘Mutual care’ is one of the newly formed paradigms in the realm of pastoral care. Historically mutual care has existed in the early church and it is re-emerging as a paradigm in the recent years. Nevertheless there has not been many attempts to clarify mutual care theologically. Taking note of these, the author introduced the theological concept of ‘perichoresis’ that can encompass the concept of mutual care relatively well. Perichoresis is the concept used in the immanent trinity, one of the representative discussion about the trinity. This can be translated into the ‘mutual penetration.’ It is the providing a space for one another to participate while respecting the autonomy of each participant. This concept can show how mutual care should be done in the pastoral care. Therefore the author suggested three measures to achieve this relation: ‘provide space for others,’ ‘participate in the lives of others,’ and ‘respect one’s autonomy.’ My discussions is expected to reduce negative consequences resulted from the pursuit of volume growth in modern church growth and to bring positive impact on building a healthy church in the Bible.