"40 Questions about Pastoral Ministry" (Phil A. Newton)

TITLE: 40 Questions About Pastoral Ministry (40 Questions Series)
AUTHOR: Phil A. Newton
PUBLISHER: Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Academic, 2021, (336 pages).

What is a pastor? What do pastors do? What does it take to remain spiritually healthy? How could pastors lead the Church? How do pastors handle conflict? What do pastors do when expectations clash? What about discouragement? How do pastors conduct marriages, funerals, and other landmark rituals? Why should pastors aim for long pastorates? These questions and many more are covered in this comprehensive volume of advice for pastors present and future, young and old. Written in an easy to reference Question-and-Answer format, author and pastor Phil Newton shares from his over 40 years of pastoral experience about what a pastor is, what it takes to develop a pastor's health, some key practices, the ministry of preaching, Church leadership, and many more matters related to the pastoral ministry. Burdened for the pastoral ministry, Newton shares his conviction that any pastoral ministry must stem from the foundation of God's Word, with appropriate reflection theologically, and applied contextually to the modern Church environment. He writes this book even as he deals with chemotherapy challenges. The questions mainly provide a framework for issues commonly faced by pastors. In five sections, he gives answers to 40 of the most important questions with regard to pastoral ministry. The questions are categorized as follows:

1. Foundational Considerations (Q1-5)
2. Pastoral Development and Health (Q6-13)
3. Pastoral Practices (Q14-20)
4. Pastoral Preaching (Q21-28)
5. The Church and Pastoral Ministry (Q29-40)

The "Foundational Considerations" focus on the character qualities needed in any pastor. The "Pastoral Development and Health" looks at what it takes to finish the marathon calling of pastoral ministry. The "Pastoral Practices" provides the hows and whys of Church ministry. The "Pastoral Preaching" deals with the all-important topic of preaching. The section on "The Church and Pastoral Ministry" looks at the relationship between the pastor and the Church. 

My Thoughts

Who should read this book? Obviously, the first group would be pastors or anyone desiring the office of a pastor. Pastors are expected to understand the needs of the parishioners. Who could understand pastors' needs? Apart from the pastoral community, not many outsiders could appreciate the unique challenges of ministry work. This book comes from a pastor who sincerely wants to help fellow pastors through the challenging journey of the pastorate. In an age where the average life span of a pastor is five years or less, there is a need to address any underlying challenges that might diminish the joy of pastoral work. While it is often easy to point a finger at the unfair expectations from the outside, what matters more is the lack of resilience inside the pastor. Books like this would be an asset to help pastors discern their calling regularly and to avoid premature termination of one's time in office. At the same time, it enables one to grow in determination to finish the race well and strong. We need more pastors, not less. We need to encourage those who are already in ministry and not wait until it is too late. Maybe, to add into the mix, those praying for or working as sidekicks to pastors might benefit from reading this book so as to offer support to their pastors. 

Second, for the highly opinionated reader, I would advise them to focus less on the specifics but more on the principles of ministry. it is easy to become distracted by semantics or areas that conflict with one's convictions. For example, the author is convinced that the pastoral office is given to men, and thus writes with direct references to men as pastors. Having said that, he affirms the hugely critical roles of women in the Church. In our increasingly egalitarian climate, it is easy to become distracted by the author's complementarian convictions. This is what I propose. Regardless of your views about women in ministry, remove the gender references and just focus on the main issues with regard to the common challenges of pastoral ministry. Honestly, the challenges are often targeted more at the office rather than gender. In other words, don't throw out the book on the basis of differences over any one issue.

Finally, for prospective pastors to be, note that the pastoral ministry is a calling and not everyone is called into this office. While books like this might excite and inspire one to become a pastor, not everyone keen could enter this vocation. They must be called. The most knowledgeable person is not necessarily the most suitable candidate. The most suitable candidate might not be willing. The best candidate might not even be accepted by the hiring organization for various reasons. In fact, there are many tests within this book to help sieve our best intentions into fantasy and reality. For instance, the danger of ignoring one's personal holiness can be spiritually deadly. Sometimes, pastors can be so sucked into the work that they missed out on the simple need for daily devotions or the cultivation of one's spirituality with the Lord. We can claim to serve and serve, but once we lose the intimacy with God, our ministry unravels quickly. The questions pertaining to relationships and leadership are crucial to the survival of any pastor. That should test one's willingness to go through the crucible of intense scrutiny or even unwitting suffering. Of course, while there is much wisdom with regard to the nitty-gritty of pastoral work, there are other important considerations that are missed out, such as ethnic ministries; multi-cultural and inter-generational challenges, etc. For that to happen, this book would probably require additional chapters that deal with such topics. 

Phil A. Newton (PhD, Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary; DMin, Fuller Theological Seminary) is senior pastor at South Woods Baptist Church in Memphis, Tennessee. His previous books include The Way of Faith and Elders in Congregational Life.                        

Rating: 4.5 stars of 5.

conrade

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This book has been provided courtesy of Kregel Academic without requiring a positive review. All opinions offered above are mine unless otherwise stated or implied.