The Pastor as Spiritual Guide written by Howard Rice. This review is going to be high points; what hit me. Not a comprehensive review.
"The leadership provided by ordained pastors is for the purpose of guiding the congregation in fulfilling its own mission of making disciples of Jesus Christ." (pg 20) Shepherd the flock and a healthy flock reproduces itself.
"But the principal tool of pastors is not a particular skill or technique; it is our very being. The principal tool for the work of pastoral ministry is on's own faith." (pg 35) How's my faith? Will the faith of our people rise above our own faith> glass ceiling!
"Whether born into faith or recently arrived converts, Christians cannot take their faith journey for granted without danger to the soul. If we are not growing in our faith, we may discover that faith has grown dim, that God has become distant and unreal." (pg 45) Faith is alive; or dead. And if alive, then it must be fed and cared for. And if dead... well, no good.
"Openness to God necessitates distancing ourselves from a culture that expresses its desperate need for control through compulsive activity. Much of life's frantic pace arises from the unceasing effort to keep up the pretense of control." (pg 50) Yow! That is a good explanation of our busyness. If we don't make space for God, then we miss God. The answer isn't more control, because that means more busyness.
Keys to create space for God: (pg 50-56) Prayer, reading scripture, meditation, feasting and fasting, serving others, worship, holy reading, sabbath rest. Get acquainted with these spiritual disciplines, and put them into practice.
How can worship encourage spiritual growth? (pg 96-99) We accept God, We open our lives to God, We worship in order to be transformed. Is that why we show up for worship? Is that why we setup worship the way we do? For me, it starts with personal worship that prepares me for corporate worship, which feeds and encourages personal worship... It's a vicious cycle!
Chapter 9 connected with me the most. I won't quote the entire chapter here, maybe somewhere else:) "The Pastor as person: Keeping our souls alive". In short, Pastors need to practice what they preach, and preach what they practice. Integrity - doing what we tell others to do. Authenticity - telling others to do what we know we should do, then we have to do it to stay Integrated!
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