The Art of Pastoring

<P><B>Named one of the Top Ten Books by the Academy of Parish Clergy</B></P><P>Hundreds of books tapes workshops and seminars promise to answer these impossible questions. Some offer a set of practical guidelines; others suggest a system or pattern to follow. Some stress various ministry functions; others feature case studies as models of success or failure. Some are helpful. Others are not. But in <I>The Art of Pastoring</I> David Hansen turns pastoral self-help programs on their heads. He tackles the perennial questions from within his own experience.</P><P><B>From the Inside Out</B></P><P>Hansen's fresh bold narrative grows from nearly a decade of ministry. He draws you into his life and into the lives of Florence-Victor Parish in the mountains of Montana including unforgettable encounters with unforgettable people--a stubborn pioneer woman who still chops her own firewood though she's blind and 90 years old a championship rodeo cowboy who was baptized in his boots and many more.Hansen's goal is to help you discover that pastoral ministry is a life not a technology . . . [that] life as a pastor is far more than the sum of the tasks I carry out. It is a call from God that involves my whole life.</P><P><B>From Calling to Living Parable</B></P><P>Every pastor has encountered those who struggle to hear God's voice in a hospital room who reach for Jesus in the sacraments. No systematic answers can meet their deep eternal needs. What can touch them Hansen contends is a life itself a life lived as a parable of Jesus. As a parable of Jesus Christ Hansen writes I deliver something to the parishioner that I am not and in the process I deliver the parishioner into the hands of God.</P><P>It is this knack for getting to the heart of things that makes <I>The Art of Pastoring</I> valuable for pastors in any setting--rural suburban or urban. Parachurch workers missionaries church leaders and ministry volunteers will also find inspiration here.</P><P>In this significantly revised new edition Hansen includes new insights into his view of pastorate as parable and adds a new postlude in which he comes clean on his constant attempts to leave the ministry.</P>