Emma J. Justes
Distinguished Professor of Pastoral Care and Counseling
E-mail: ejustes@united.edu
I have come to believe that I was created to teach. My life flows with joy being here.
My area of teaching is Pastoral Care and all that goes with it. I believe the caring ministry must be grounded in and informed by theology. What I do is very practical and responsive to real needs of the people of a particular context.
I see Pastoral Care as connected to every other area of ministry — preaching and worship, education, administration, and spirituality (and more). People who come to church are often in pain and struggling in their lives and we have to be able to offer a relevant ministry to them. That ministry requires hearing what is going on with them.
Ministers have to be people of great courage—to face the messiness of the lives of the people and their contexts. We have to be prepared to deal with shattering grief and overwhelming conflict. We can’t hide or back away when what we meet in another feels threatening. This means that persons in ministry have to have a clear sense of their own selves — what scares them and what repulses them. We have to know what is going on within ourselves, if we are to be able to face what is going on in another person.
Courage and openness may be two of the most important characteristics those in ministry need to embody. Pastoral care requires us to be comfortable with ourselves and comfortable with people who are different from us. Of course, all of pastoral care hinges on being able to listen to others — an act of hospitality.
Teaching and Research
Emma’s teaching and research interests include pastoral care and counseling, pastoral theology, crisis, grief, aging, transitions, human sexuality, pastoral care in a pluralistic context, and discipleship from a pastoral care perspective.
Education
- B.A. in Elementary Education, Franklin College (1963)
- B.Div., Colgate Rochester Divinity School (1967)
- M.T.S. in Practical Theology, Princeton Theological Seminary (1969)
- Ph.D.in Practical Theology, Princeton Theological Seminary (1979)
Professional
- Member of The Society for Pastoral Theology and the American Baptist Minister’s Council
- Member of the Board of the American Baptist Church, USA Roger Williams Fellowship
- Member of the Editorial Board of the Journal of Pastoral Care and Counseling
- Ordained in the American Baptist Church in 1967
- Has served in ministry in Reformed Church in America, American Baptist, and African Methodist Episcopal Churches
Publishing
The bookcover and title link to Barnes and Noble.com. You may also buy books through United’s online store at Cokesbury. Purchasing books through these links supports student scholarships at United.
Hearing Beyond the Words: Becoming a Listening Pastor. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2006.
From the Publisher
Only when pastors hear beyond the words, can they carefully minister. Pastors listen all the time. Or do they? Listening is more than a developed skill; it is an awesome gift of hospitality offered to others. According to Dr. Emma Justes, hearing beyond the words signifies an intimate relationship characterize by humility, thoughtful availability, vulnerability, and mutuality. Listening requires focused attention and openness. To help the reader learn this essential skill, the author includes exercises at the end of each chapter to build needed competency for this healing ministry. This important book has been adopted for translation in China, Korea, Spain and Eastern Europe.
Larry Kent Graham writes, “Emma Justes illuminates the sacred space that comes into being through listening and the courageous hospitality required of listeners. Undergirding all human encounter and every act of ministry, listening is thoughtful vulnerability that sees truthfully and empowers freedom. This wise book will serve us well for years to come.”
Chapter entitled “Pastoral Care and Older Women’s Secrets” in Through the Eyes of Women: Insights for Pastoral Care by Jeanne S. Moessner, Augsburg Fortress Press, 1996.
Chapter in a festschrift for Howard Thurman, God and Human Freedom, on using his work as a base for Pastoral Care.
Passionate About / Special Interests
Racial and Gender issues are crucial for me. Justice and walking the way Jesus walked (the Way).
A new issue I am pursuing is what I might call “Understanding Living with Privilege.”
Secrets is also an area of great interest. I have written a book (not yet published) about keeping secrets about which we have shame. So many older people have kept secrets all their lives and then -- I think in anticipation of dying and trying to get their “life pictures” to make sense -- they tell the secret. These are redeeming experiences and life changing and I wrote to encourage people to listen to secrets.
A new writing interest is “Fear” because of the tremendous role it plays in keeping us from walking Jesus’ way.
Personal
I am a single parent to two sons, Kito who is 22 years old and Micah who is 19. I adopted them when they were infants. We also have three cats, Sophia, Woods and Jordan.
Some of my wider family live in the Cincinnati area, my brother included. We grew up in the Cincinnati / northern Kentucky area.
My newest hobby is stone carving. I love gardening, taking pictures and Jazz. I love to write.
I love to travel, especially in South Africa and hope to teach there again in the future.