The Pastor: A Memoir Paperback – September 18, 2012

I read this book twice (kindle version and audiobook version) in a couple months after it first came out.The main reason I love reading with Peterson is that his language and purpose are deeper than most other contemporary Christian writing. Peterson has a deep use of language, not that he is difficult to understand, but that he is very careful in his imagery and it takes time to process all that he is saying.If you have not read any of Eugene Peterson theology books, then this is a good introduction. It is very personal, and gives context to much of the other theological writing. But Peterson also intentionally writes about why he thinks he developed as he did as a pastor, theologian and writer. There are several overlapping themes in this book and his previous book Practice Resurrection. The most important is he focus on stability as a pastor. Peterson started one church and remained pastor there until he left the pastorate to concentrate on The Message Bible, 29 years in total. Over and over I was struck by the number of times he said things like, "and it took me 10 years to come to the understanding that..."This is spiritual autobiography in the best sense of the word. It gives a sense of how we develop as Christians and how we can develop into our vocation whether we are pastors or not.I think most pastors will benefit from this, and I have already passed it on to several pastors that are friends and family. I would encourage you to read it and then give that copy (or another) to your pastor. It really is very, very good.About half way through this second reading I think I understood what Peterson was trying to do in a different way. Peterson, through his own story, is showing us different way to conceive of the role of pastor. That is part of why I liked the book so much the first time I read it. But it is more than simply giving a new language. He is outright rejecting the way that most of us conceive the role of pastor. I had started reading the very good economics book "The Economics of Good and Evil" and was thinking about how the author was deconstructing our ideas about what Economics was capable of explaining. I understood that the book was particularly post-modern, in a very good way, because it was attempting to work through the variety of ways that Economics had been conceived through the texts of ancient and modern literature. Using these texts Sedlacek was able to help us understand the the modern, mathematical, predictive understanding of Economics is not only recent, but just one of many ways that Economics can be conceived. In many ways, this is exactly what Peterson is doing. He is doing it not through a variety of ancient texts, but through his own memoirs. Peterson is helping us, whether parishioner or pastor ourselves, to see that the modern, CEO, pastoral counselor, mega-church Preacher, etc., is but a recent understanding of a role that goes back thousands of years. We do not have to adopt the recent definition, instead we can adopt a different definition, one that is counter-cultural, but that Peterson thinks is more biblical.

In The Pastor, Eugene H. Peterson tells "the story of my formation as a pastor and how the vocation of pastor formed me." Peterson is best known as author of The Message, his "translation" of the Bible into "American words and metaphors and syntax." He recently completed a five-volume series--"conversations"--about spiritual theology. And he has written numerous books about the pastoral vocation, the seedbed out of which all his other books has grown. This memoir narrates the journey of a Pentecostal kid from Montana becoming a Presbyterian pastor in Maryland.For pastors, it is must-reading. For one thing, Peterson's story shows how God uses the particularity of our circumstances to shape us into the people he wants us to be, under the tutelage of Holy Scripture. For another thing, it offers a searing critique of the commoditization of American religion that turns "each congregation into a market for religious consumers, an ecclesiastical business run along the lines of advertising techniques, organizational flow charts, and energized by impressive motivational rhetoric." And finally, it does all this through a storytelling that alternates between humor, anger, frustration, and hope--the emotions all pastors face in their ministries.Example: Peterson recounts being bullied by Garrison Johns in elementary school. Instructed by his mother to "turn the other cheek," Peterson endured the insults and beatings until "[s]omething snapped within me." He wrestled his tormentor to the ground, pinned him with his knees, and began pummeling him with his fists. His entreaties, "Say `uncle'" met with no response, so he began shouting, "Say, `I believe in Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior.'" After a couple more hits, Johns said the words, gaining Peterson his first "convert." How easily the "world" infects the "church" with disease-ridden modes of ministry!Another example: Early in Peterson's ministry, a local mental health institution invited him and other clergy to a two-year course in therapeutic technique. In the 1960s, when this took place, the pastoral counseling movement was gathering steam. Peterson learned much that was helpful from this instruction. But he also learned that counseling was not the pastor's vocation. "The people who made up my congregation had plenty of problems and more than enough inadequacies, but congregation is not defined by its collective problems. Congregation is a company of people who are defined by their creation in the image of God, living souls, whether they know it or not. They are not problems to be fixed, but mysteries to be honored and revered." That is the pastor's task.In Peterson's telling, the pastor is "not someone who `gets things done' but rather the person placed in the community to pay attention and call attention to `what is going on right now' between men and women, with one another and with God--this kingdom of God that is primarily local, relentlessly personal, and prayerful `without ceasing.'"Local, personal, and prayerful. For me, these three words summarize Peterson's take on the pastoral vocation. Pastors lead congregations in a specific place. Montana is not Maryland. American is not Africa. Wise pastors understand the conditions of the place to which God has called them.And they pay attention to the people among whom God has called them. Peterson quotes Baron Friedrich von Hügel, "there are no dittos in souls." Pastors must minister to people in their individuality, attentive to their inherent contradictions. Like his Uncle Sven, who was adored by his little sister (Peterson's mother), but abhorred by the wife he abused, and who killed him in self-defense: "When I finally did become a pastor, I was surprised at how thoroughly Sven had inoculated me against `one answer' systems of spiritual care." Souls are not dittos, and no ministry is one-size-fits-all.But mostly, pastors pray, by which Peterson means that they enter an ongoing conversation with God characterized by listening and speaking to him. Early on, Peterson learned that "the vocation of pastor had to be understood entirely under the shaping influence of the biblical text," which teaches the redemption of creation and calls for a response of worship.Peterson's memoir alternates between exasperation at what American churches so often are and hope at what they could be. He experienced both emotions in his ministry as a Presbyterian pastor in Maryland. But the dominant note of this personal narrative is hope. The church is "a colony of heaven in the country of death, a strategy of the Holy Spirit for giving witness to the already-inaugurated kingdom of God." This definition is not theological boilerplate. Peterson learned it from "wise Christians, both dead and alive." And though a Presbyterian, he shares the Pentecostal conviction that "everything, absolutely everything, in the scriptures is livable," including a different way of being pastor and church in the world.

I was transformed by this book. The depth of his reflections, alternating with real life stories, humour, honesty and constant soul searching on what a pastor should be, how he should be is moving and profound. This book is leaving me changed.

La autobiografia del Ps Eugene Peterson un gran libro para cualquier pastor principal o líder de iglesia

Eugene Peterson has a gift at enabling pastors to grasp and grow in their pastoral vocation. I first encountered Peterson's work while training for and beginning church leadership. Those books were invaluable now.Decades later his work is still highly relevant. These days I train church leaders and this book has been timely in renewing my sense of vocation. We need that as leaders, because as he says I his book church is hard. The only way through becoming hardened is to rediscover who we are in Jesus. Peterson's memoir is an excellent and moving reminder to tap into the well spring of God's love. I recommend this for all church leader: the new, the old, the enthusiastic and the jaded.

This is a really really good book.At first I was a bit unsure of what I would think of this, as a number of friends had warned me off 'The Message' as a dodgey bible paraphrase. (Although I always enjoyed reading it) but I am a convert to Eugene H Peterson after reading this. His book is honest and full of leadership treasure. I will go back to it again and again over the coming years I am sure.This book is autobiographical but in it, draws out lessons the author learnt and skills he developed at various stages in his life (Boyhood to Manhood) about how to be the Pastor, God called him to be.He comes across as a normal guy, trying to be good and follow the Lord.And after reading left me feeling that God is developing me all the time and that he does and will use me for Kingdom Purposes.You cannot read this and feel discouraged.I HIGHLY recommend.

Just finished this truly inspiring and readable book. Enjoyed every moment of it and recommend it to all those who are seeking a vocation as a pastor.