The Unnecessary Pastor: Rediscovering the Call

Rating:
Summary: Reason not the need...
Review: I read this book just after my ordination three years ago.

Why would someone who was just ordained be reading a book subtitled 'Rediscovering the Call'? Why would someone who hopes to make a profession out of the vocation to ordained ministry be reading, much less recommending, a book entitled 'The Unnecessary Pastor'?

Marva Dawn and Eugene Peterson have put together a book useful for experienced ministers as well as those in training, or even just thinking about ministry. Ministry consists of more than the one who stands up at the pulpit or behind the altar. This book helps shift the focus from that tradition role, fraught with danger and limitation, to explore the more counter-cultural calls that the Bible really expects of those called ministers.

'We are unnecessary to what the culture presumes is important: as paragons of goodness and niceness. Culture has a fairly high regard for pastors as custodians of moral order. We are viewed as persons who provide a background of social stability, who are useful in times of crisis and serve as symbols of meaning and purpose. But we are not necessary in any of those ways.'

Peterson recounts the tale of wanting to host a conference with the same title (The Unnecessary Pastor), but was advised against it by someone who said that no one wants to hear that her/his job is irrelevant, as the title implies. Peterson was advised to put a more positive spin on the title, but in fact left it as is, and the conference was oversubscribed.

People everywhere are looking for ways to reconnect to a more authentic way of being. Pastors and ministers are no different; in fact, they are probably even more in search of this reconnexion given the focus of their lives (or, at least, professional lives) in the first place.

Dawn speaks of the language of faith and God as similar to an unfinished Shakespeare play: how would we produce it? What resources would we draw upon? Could we ever write as well as Shakespeare? What improvisations would be needed? In much the same way, the church has been given the unfinished work of God, and we must improvise in our imperfect way to strive to give a good performance, full of meaning as true to the author as we can.

Pastors above all are called to lives that are formed and then transformed. Grace must be present in all we do, and not tailored to the demands of the world. 'It is interesting to me that religious liberals and conservatives are often unwitting allies in their attempts to translate the gospel into the world's terms. ... Churches find themselves powerless in the world and not able to invite our neighbours into the faith because we don't live in ways that give any warrant for belief.'

The call is also one of formation and transformation of community. The stronger the community, the less needed will be the pastor, in many ways. The pastor may be freed to become a true disciple, without having to cater to the whims of congregation members, or worry about the plumbing and the lighting bill. The stronger the community and the more supportive it will be, the greater the pastor will be able to respond, and in turn make the community and world more responsive.

Dawn and Peterson draw on resources from many denominations, major scholars and ancient wisdom, linking very closely the Biblical ideas of ministry to their exposition of the true necessity of today's community.

Rating:
Summary: Good Material
Review: It is hard for me to give this book only 3 stars. I like to read Marva Dawn and I like to read Eugene Peterson. I am intrigued by the title of the book and the content is valuable. I notice as I thumb through my copy that I've highlighted numerous passages. So why only 3 stars?

Dawn's and Peterson's writing styles (in this case lecture styles) vary just enough that it was hard for me to keep on focus. I had to keep adjusting from chapter to chapter. Months later I couldn't remember much of what was in the book.

Rating:
Summary: Transcribed lectures . . . okay
Review: Yes, these were transcribed lectures, with a few new parenthesis added for clarification. I wish I could have been there. This book is the next best thing.

One thing I noticed, Marva must've had the longer session times, or she really talks fast! The chapter lengths bear this out. But I didn't find her transcribed sessions too wordy or too full. Both Peterson and Dawn hit all the nails I needed to have hit, and a few more.

I greatly appreciated the lower key toward church growth, with the emphasis on spiritual growth over numerical. I've been waiting a long time for a church leader to espouse the method that our first century fathers used . . . God added to the church daily those who would be saved!

In the next few days, I'll go back through the book and highlight all the good stuff, and borrow many of the quotables. I've already borrowed an idea for a teaching series - Reality vs. Truth, Truth vs. Reality.

Thank you for a great resource!