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Overview The term “church growth” can refer to church renewal, church organizational and structural maturation, the empirically verifiable numerical growth of churches, and the theory of how and why churches grow or decline. The so-called church growth movement (see 5) began in the United States in the 1960s, although not everyone who studies the dynamics of church growth and decline would consider themselves part of this movement. …

1. IntroductionPastoral care refers to the assistance church officials (pastors) provide for individuals and groups of the faithful in questions of faith and the religious conduct of life. The  Regula pastoralis (“Pastoral Rule,” c. 590) of Pope Gregory I, the normative guide to pastoral care well into the early modern period, uses the Latin terms  cura pastoralis (“pastoral care,” French  la pastorale) and regimen animarum (“guidance of souls”). The literal Latin eq…

1. EinleitungS. bezeichnet den Beistand kirchlicher Amtspersonen (Seelsorger) für Einzelne und Gruppen von Gläubigen in Fragen des Glaubens und der relig. Lebensgestaltung. In der Regula pastoralis (»Pastoralregel«, um 590) Papst Gregors I., der bis in die Nz. maßgeblichen S.-Anleitung, werden dafür die Begriffe cura pastoralis (lat.; »Hirtensorge«; davon engl. pastoral care…