Pastor

by William H. Willimon

Book Overview

Ordained ministry, says Will Willimon, is a gift of God to the church--but that doesn't mean that it is easy. Always a difficult vocation, changes in society and the church in recent years have made... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0687045320
• ISBN13: 9780687045327
• Release Date: January 2002
• Publisher: Abingdon Press
• Length: 392 Pages
• Weight: 1.18 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 6.1" x 9.1"

Customer Reviews

A Job Description for Pastors

William H. Willimon's comprehensive and insightful, Pastor: The Theology and Practice of Ordained Ministry, should be read by all entering or currently working in ordained ministry. Willimon examines the multi-faceted roles of the ordained pastor-worship leader, care giver, interpreter of Scripture, servant, counselor, teacher, evangelist, and prophet-through the lenses of Scripture, Christian history, and post-modern American culture. Although Willimon's elucidation of pastoral ministry is verbose, and at times convoluted, seminarians will nevertheless benefit from gaining a deeper understanding of the nature of pastoral work. Both novel and seasoned pastors will also benefit from this book and find subsequent occasion to use it as a periodic reference to check the content, focus, and health of their ministry. Willimon begins his book with a persuasive apology for the rationale of ordained ministry based on Hippolytus' ordination liturgy. Willimon's organizes each successive chapter around the aforementioned images of the pastor and disperses six interludes throughout these chapters, addressing issues highly pertinent to ministry such as "The Wonderful Thickness of the Text", "Sin in Christian Ministry", and "Failure in Christian Ministry". Pastor: The Theology and Practice of Ordained Ministry is not light, leisurely reading. Indeed, if Willimon had condensed his content and reduced his illustrations, his book would have possessed more force and clarity. In addition, on a few occasions Willimon's book discouraged me because of the enormous burdens and responsibilities that fall upon ordained ministers. Yet, Willimon consistently interjects anecdotes and reassurances of God's grace and presence. In the end, it's better to be realistic about the harsh realities of pastoral ministry than naïve and starry-eyed. Thus, because of Willimon's realistic and comprehensive treatment of ordained pastoral ministry-both in terms of a minister's role and in terms of how Scripture, church history, and post-modern America perceive the minister's role-I highly recommend this book.

What is a "Pastor?"

Throughout "Pastor," it is easy to tell that the author, William Willimon, has 25+ years as a church pastor with all the ups and downs that come with that particular calling. From beginning to end, this book is filled with encouragement for pastors, and lay leaders alike, as they struggle through the bad times and breeze through the good times. One of the key aspects of this book is Willimon's emphasis on the fact that pastors are fallible human beings just as much as anyone else in this fallen world. Pastors cannot, and their people should not, expect them to do everything right or have the perfect answer to every question. This helps pastors remember that they are still just people. On the other hand, Willimon also reminds us that pastors are also people who are called out by God. According to Willimon there are two basic views of the pastor: "...the first view leads to a `high' theology of ordination in which the minister is `appointed by Christ to take Christ's place as host at the table.' The other view leads to a `low' theology of ministry where someone is merely `called out from among the people to help.' We need not choose between the two. ...The first stresses the gifted, grace-filled quality of ministry...the second asserts the functional, community-derived quality of Christian ministry" (39). I found Willimon's discussion of "the needs of the people" extremely helpful. He argues that as pastors we try to meet all of the needs of our people all of the time. However, what we should be doing is trying to educate our people as to what are real needs in life and what are wants and desires. As the author points out, "...in this culture desire becomes elevated to the level of need...and because we tend to be a pit of bottomless desire, there is no end to our need." Willimon goes on to argue that this is why many clergy experience burn-out. Pastors, too often, are "expending their lives, running about in such busyness, attempting to service the needs of essentially selfish, self-centered consumers, without critique or limit of those needs" (95). Pastors have to be able to differentiate and discern the real needs from those desires which are elevated to the level of needs. The single major problem I see in this work is its length. It felt that Pastor Willimon could have said in 200 or so pages what he said in 300+. The book seemed to drag on and the author could get somewhat rambly at times. However, if one has the time to devote to this book and the ability to see past the droning, there is a lot of great advice that could save a number of pastors from the fatigue that so many face.

A Hard-Hitting Look at Pastoral Ministry

If you are considering the ordained ministry, "Pastor" will either reinforce your call or knock you to your senses. Willimon examines both the theology and praxis of the pastoral role. He examines the traditional images of pastor and draws a clear and challenging picture of the ordained minister in the context of the counter-cultural mission of the church. Co-author of "Resident Aliens," Willimon bases his understanding of the pastor on the assumption that the church's role is to proclaim a radical new reality. He calls us to expand our view of evangelism and conversion beyond the altar call to that of "the destruction and reconstruction of worlds." (p. 231) Specifically, he means, the destruction of a world formed by secular or pagan thought to one created by the proclamation of scripture. The purpose, he says, is to form a prophetic community that dares to speak the truth in love - both to one another and to society. Willimon confronts the difficulties of pastoral ministry. It is not for the faint-hearted. The Good News, he says, is both attractive and repulsive. He describes the pastor's duty to preach boldly despite human ambivalence regarding their desire to be free of "the sin that clings so closely." (Hebrews 12:1) I found this job description of shaping a robust community that builds up each other in truth and speaks prophetically to the world to be exciting and challenging. It is a ministry of the Word and Sacrament in its fullest sense - in that we are forming people by the Word to be sacramental signs and symbols to the world in which we live.

A True Ministers' Handbook

I was recently ordained into the ministry and began reading this book shortly thereafter. Willimon provides a sophisticated and theologically-sound approach to defining ministry as well as touching on the personal life of the minister. He addresses the "hush-hush" issues of ministry burnout and women in pastoral ministry. This is a well-written handbook for ministers. Strongly recommended!

Review of Willimon's book "Pastor"

This was one of the best pastoral books I have read. Willimon's book contains great depth while at the same time explaining what may be difficult theological language for those who have not studied at seminary. His vision of the church as a community of accountability striving toward a focus on God's kingdom is exactly the vision of the church given to us in the Bible. Willimon gives us practical ways in which we can carry this mission out. He does not water down the gospel, but also leaves room for human sinfulness. This is a must-read for all pastors- giving us back the vision of the way the church should be and a reminder about why we're in this ministry to begin with!