The Contemplative Pastor Returning to the Art of Spiritual Direction
Pastor-teacher Eugene Peterson has written a book of wisdom and refreshment for busy pastors illustrated with engaging personal anecdotes and including poetic reflections on the Beatitudes and discussions of such themes as curing souls, the language of prayer, the ministry of small talk, and sabbatical.
User Ratings and Reviews
5 Stars This is My Favorite of All Peterson's Books!
POSITIVES
If I had the opportunity to put together a small list of "must have" books for the libraries of Christian Leaders across the nation, this book would be on that list. It is wonderfully profound and simple at the same time. It reminds the pastor what God has called the pastor to be, yet is valuable for laity to read also.
PROBLEMS
If I was forced to list one drawback with this book, it would be the writing style. Peterson is a contemplative calling pastors to this wonderfully powerful unbusy, subversive, apocalyptic lifestyle. However, many of our nation's pastors are not contemplative. They are pragmatic. If the author started the book with a mission statement, then offered several practical steps on how to arrive at the stated goal, thereby planting new churches or increasing the attendance, that would be a book that many pastors could understand. Add to that mix a paradigm shift or logical discussion of impending theological struggle and you will had a best seller. This book takes another set of skills. The type of skills necessary to enjoy poetry.
4 Stars Helpful for the Busy Pastor who Shouldn't Be
The Contemplative Pastor – the first book I have read by Eugene Peterson – is a helpful study not in sermon preparation or church growth strategies or qualifications for eldership (the kind of stuff I usually read), but on the pastor's heart and the pastoral art.
Peterson describes the term "pastor" with three unusual adjectives: un-busy, subversive, and apocalyptic (a chapter is devoted to each term), and then charts a course for shepherding people in the mundane.
Peterson's poetry is sprinkled through the book, concluding with numerous poems at the end. Unfortunately, his poetry is not all that good. To me, it just seemed like the throwing together of pretty words without much rhyme or reason.
But there are some jewels to be mined here – especially Peterson's job description for the un-busy pastor who devotes his time to prayer, bringing messages from God, and listening to his people, his meditation on "the middle voice" in relation to prayer, and his chapter "The Ministry of Small Talk."
5 Stars Contemplative Pastor
Peterson's The Contemplative Pastor: Returning to the Art of Spiritual Direction (Dallas: Word Publishing, c. 1989), is one of his best books. He begins by insisting on some "redefinitions," which reflect the Christian tradition rather than cultural conventions. Here he says the right title for him is "Pastor," a noun rich in meaning, which include being "unbusy, subversive, apocalyptic" (p. 24).
First, pastors should be unbusy. "Hilary of Tours diagnosed our pastoral busyness as irreligiosa solicitudo pro Deo, a blasphemous anxiety to do God's work for him" (p. 27). We stay busy because we want to be thought important, But if pastors must study and pray in order to preach, they must devote large chunks of time to study and prayer, staying still long enough to hear the Word they need to proclaim. Here he compares pastors with harpooners portrayed in Moby Dick: "'To insure the greatest efficiency in the dart, the harpooners of this world must start to their feet out of idleness, and not out of toil'" (p. 33).
Second, pastors should be subversive. Folks have been sucked into an unreal world, a temporal world of commerce and fashion and sin. They need to be brought into the real world, God's grace-based eternal kingdom. Our weapon in this spiritual struggle is truth, the truth which infiltrates folks' minds like Jesus' parables. Thus "Words are the real work of the world–prayer words with God, parable words with men and women" (p. 45).
The words which give pastors an edge are profoundly poetic, so there's a sense in which pastors should be poets. "Is it not significant," he asks, "that the biblical prophets and psalmists were all poets" (p. 162)? Perhaps that's because good poets revere language and try to use it wisely. "Poets are caretakers of language, the shepherds of words, keeping them from harm, exploitation, misuse. Words not only mean something; they are something, each with a sound and rhythm all its own" (p. 161).
Then pastors should be apocalyptic. Preachers need to reveal God through the truth of their proclamation. Like St John, pastors learn through prayer and speak through poems. Unfortunately, today's "pastoral work actually erodes prayer" (p. 52) because the academically-inspired models for preaching are too analytical and abstract.
Having redefined "pastor," Peterson then reflects on the "Beatitudes," and their meaning for ministry. First of all, pastors must devote themselves to an ancient craft: the cure of souls. Mainly this means staying attentive to God's mysterious workings in the human heart, dropping hints and illustrating how to be a believer.
We need to read creation as God's handiwork, following the lead of Annie Dillard, whose Pilgrim at Tinker Creek Peterson finds must instructive. Dillard studies the mysteries of creeks and mountains. The same care Dillard gives her world pastors must devote to theirs: doing exegesis. Doing exegesis is much like working in a butcher shop, which Peterson did as a youth. Good butchers use sharp knives–they "get to know" them to use them well. They further learn to respect the carcass, to cut with rather than against the "texture and grain" of the meat. "Real work always includes a respect for the material at hand" (p. 107).
As skilled craftsmen, pastors must diligently study and exegete Scripture, creation and life, enabling their people to see God's truth, leading them in the kind of worship which brings them into His Presence, teaching them how to pray so as to hear Him. As George Buttrick said: "'Pastors think people come to church to hear sermons. They don't; the come to pray and to learn to pray'" (p. 100). Great poets like Shakespeare say little about themselves. Self-expression is the mark of adolescence. Adult work, the kind of "real work" pastors should do, stays attentive to the material at hand. God-in-Christ, not his ministers, must be the object of our attention!
To help people find intimacy with God, pastors must intently listen to them, discerning the spiritual depths of their "ordinary" experiences and longings. We must remind them that they are, by nature, sinners, alienated from the God they deeply need but incessantly avoid. By telling the truth that "people are sinners then pastors can concentrate on talking about God's action in Jesus Christ instead of sitting around lamenting how bad the people are" (p. 126). By believing this truth, the pastor frees himself of any fantasies of creating a perfect congregation where all is peace and joy! He also frees himself from the bondage of trying to please everyone all the time!
5 Stars A very helpful book
My husband is a very hard working pastor. He focuses more on other people than on himself. This book reminds him that he must spend time with God for himself first, then he can help others.
A great find.
4 Stars A lovely book for and about pastors
The Contemplative Pastor: Returning to the Art of Spiritual Direction, Eugene H. Peterson, Eerdmans, 1989, 171 pp.
Peterson, a pastor (though now retired after serving as a professor at Regent College, Vancover, BC), wrote this book about the pastorate and for pastors. In the first four chapters, he defines the character of a pastor. A pastor should not be busy. He should be active, in prayer, talking, teaching and preaching-but not busy. A pastor should do his work in a low-key way seeking quietly to effect biblical change in lives and community. A pastor in preaching and talking offers sacrificial love, justice and hope. He is not flashy. He wins no big battles. He prepares the ground and changes the mood a bit at a time towards belief and hope, so that when Christ returns, there will be a people waiting for him.
The pastor is a Minster of the Word and sacraments. This he must be and remain and not get caught up in the business of "running a church."
Surprisingly, the book only speaks about the Sunday work of the pastor incidentally. Peterson writes more about the rest of the pastor's life, character and work. In fact, the next eight chapters (100 pages) speak of the pastor's work between the Sundays. Here he writes about how important it is for the pastor to know his congregation, to talk and pray with them. He resolved never to serve a church so large that he could not remember everyone's names (when he wrote this book, he served a Presbyterian Church of 300). He writes about how important it is for a minister to be able to do "small talk" with parishioners. He realizes that both congregation and pastor will, at times, be tempted to have the minister preach and speak of things the congregation likes to hear and have him drift away from the biblical themes of sin, grace in Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit, renewal and hope. In "Lashed to the Mast" he strongly underlines how important it is to remain faithful to one's ordination vows rather than fall under the spell of siren voices.
In the XIII chapter he relates his sabbatical (year-long) story. Very interesting to read while on a sabbatical!
Peterson writes in an almost poetic way. In fact he is also a poet. The book is interspersed with his poems. The last chapter contains fourteen exquisite poems he wrote about the incarnation of the Son of God. Of course there is a close connection between pastors and poets: both work with words and are attuned to the rhythms and rhymes of life.
One will not learn important things about preaching from this book; rather, the reader will be blessed as he listens to the thoughts and reflections of an experienced pastor.
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Wow, I don\'t have that book. Sounds like I need to get it. Thanks for sharing the reviews.
Blessings,
Mark
Thanks for the kind words!