Why a Pastor Needs to Use Sociological Analysis to Understand the Faithful

Book Review of Social Analysis for the 21st Century: How Faith Becomes Action by Maria Cimperman

Maria Cimperman’s Social Analysis for the 21st Century: How Faith Becomes Action focuses on helping the pastor to be more socially aware of what his congregation is going through and where they are coming from in order to better serve them and address their needs. The main idea is that sociological analysis depends upon conducting an assessment of the society, the economy, the politics, the culture, the environment, and the religious experience of the people. It provides practical steps to assist in conducting these analyses and how to organize information and implement it into one’s pastoral activity. Cimperman calls it the “pastoral spiral,” which consists of sociological analysis being used to shape faith reflection, which in turn dictates action that then provides experience for reflection and more sociological analysis.[footnoteRef:2] In teaching the reader about this pastoral spiral, the author aims to impact the reader’s ability “to consider and respond to immediate issues and to the larger invitation to help create the world God invites.”[footnoteRef:3] [2: Maria Cimperman, Social Analysis for the 21st Century: How Faith Becomes Action (New York: Maryknoll, 2015), 86.] [3: Maria Cimperman, Social Analysis for the 21st Century: How Faith Becomes Action (New York: Maryknoll, 2015), 12.]

Cimperman provides social analysis of the target urban context and its connection to the resulting theological reflection and formation by walking the reader through the act of examining the community, its sociological, economical, political, cultural, environmental and religious issues. She gives numerous examples of how to do this—such as by looking at the proximity of the urban area to rural farmland and how easy it is to obtain fresh, locally produced, organic foods to facilitate the development of a healthy diet. By integrating concepts that have a real effect on people’s real lives—like food, place, shelter, media, and leadership within the Church (i.e., what the Pope is saying on current issues and events), Cimperman weaves together a holistic view of what it means to be a pastor in the modern era.

The capacity for change is at the center of Cimperman’s advice for the pastor reading the book: transformation is a crucial concept that connects the pastoral spiral to Scripture because at the heart of Scripture is the need for the transformation—i.e., the conversion—of the individual. The purpose of the pastoral spiral is likewise to help the pastor to transform his way of thinking, acting and looking at the world so that he can be of more assistance to the individuals within his congregation.[footnoteRef:4] Cimperman looks at St. Paul’s transformation, for instance, to show how he changed from a persecutor of Christians to a true Apostle. The author states that it is important for the pastor to “act as God acts,” i.e., as the pastor can discern God acting through his interaction with Scripture.[footnoteRef:5] The theme of transformation is important to the application of principle of acting as God acts, because the pastor is transforming himself from a mere mortal into a doer of the Word in the example of how Christ Himself acts towards those in need. Thus, by acting as God acts, the pastor aims to transform himself into a truly alter Christus—another Christ. The theological framework used here is that all things must inevitably be guided by faith reflection, which the pastor must do after conducting the sociological analysis that will enable him to better understand the needs of the people in their unique situations and environments.[footnoteRef:6] Analysis by itself is not going to give the pastor all that he needs to help his congregation. Rather, he must also pray to God for guidance and wisdom as all his work must inevitably be laid at the feet of the Supreme Being, where the servant must go to ask for assistance in assisting others. God does not want any of us to rush off into the world, tackling the world’s problems on our own, relying wholly on our own oftentimes faulty analysis. God wants us to rely on Him, and this is the message the author conveys in her theological framework. God gives the pastor the tools, such as the pastoral spiral the author recommends, and God wants the pastor to use these tools—but He also wants the pastor to submit his will to His will. [4: Maria Cimperman, Social Analysis for the 21st Century: How Faith Becomes Action (New York: Maryknoll, 2015), 22.] [5: Maria Cimperman, Social Analysis for the 21st Century: How Faith Becomes Action (New York: Maryknoll, 2015), 113.] [6: Maria Cimperman, Social Analysis for the 21st Century: How Faith Becomes Action (New York: Maryknoll, 2015), 254.]

Cimperman’s theological implementation approach and practice as it correlates to the stated urban theological reflection and formation is to engage in these processes in a standardized way, with the use of pastoral spiral bookended by prayer and faith reflection. The more one situates one’s pastoral activity within the context of a deep, spiritual life, the more one will be able to engage with the community in a meaningful way. It is not just social action for the purpose of action but rather social action for the purpose of fulfilling God’s commandment to “love they neighbor.”