is the first book-length analysis of pastoral assessment of parishioners' presenting problems to be published in the last two decades. In her pioneering book Ramsay seeks to (1) retrieve the theological and ethical foundations of the Judeo-Christian tradition for pastoral care; (2) develop lines of communication between pastoral theology and the other disciplines of theology; (3) create an ecumenical dialogue on pastoral care; and (4) move beyond the current preoccupation with secular psychotherapy and the other social sciences.