If the ministry is reduced to being primarily a helping profession then those who take up that office cannot help being destroyed if they have any integrity. For they will find themselves frustrated by a people not trained on the narrative of God’s salvation, not trained to want the right things rightly, but rather a … Continue reading »
From Alastair Campbell in Paid to Care?: Creativity in pastoral care requires more than merely being a back-up or ancillary service to the ‘real’ professionals. It entails offering something new, something which may be sparked by the friction which a theological understanding of human nature offers. And that’s why an immersion in theology is the best … Continue reading »
Today’s post is not the one I thought I was going to write. That one has been postponed! This one is a reaction to something I heard today. Please read it as such: it is not moderated with the usual calm or relative detachment of most of my posts. I may say things without much … Continue reading »
Pastors…do well to be intentional in pursuing what makes for their care and support. Given the numerous pressures we face, it cannot be left to chance. Peter Brain in Going the Distance: How to stay fit for a lifetime of ministry. I bought this book years ago, back when leading a church was only one of … Continue reading »
The church needs pastors who lead the church in repentance with love. The church needs pastoral leadership that refuses to take the shortcuts and has the courage to allow the church to suffer so that the whole church can be a parable of Jesus. David Hansen in The Art of Pastoring: Ministry without all the answers. … Continue reading »
Pastoral work is concerned always with the gospel of God’s redemption in, through, and as Jesus Christ, no matter the presenting problem that someone brings. Pastoral work, by definition connects the gospel story, that is, the truths and realities of God’s saving economy, with the actual lives and situations of the people. Purves, Reconstructing Pastoral Theology. … Continue reading »
I never forget that a lot of pastors I meet on lecture tours or in DMin courses are on the edge, hanging on by the slenderest of threads. Some make it. Some don’t. The dropout rate for seminary-trained pastors is estimated to be as high as 80 per cent. So I am committed to being … Continue reading »
I know. I shouldn’t have. Not when I have about forty books on the ‘to be read’ list. But I did it. I bought a new book. I suppose I figured that since most of the books I read at the moment are either courtesy of the college library or come to me for free … Continue reading »
I think I’ve discovered how I want to spend the rest of my life. Listen to this… One cannot be a pastor without also being a theologian, one who speaks and lives knowingly out of the center of the ecumenical, catholic, and evangelical faith of the church. Andrew Purves in Reconstructing Pastoral Theology.
One of the books which I planned to read this Christmas was Andrew Purves’ Pastoral Theology in the Classical Tradition. I only managed to read one chapter. Not the first, of course. You know me well enough to know that these days I tend to scan a book before I actually start reading it! And … Continue reading »
