The Pastor As Minor Poet: Texts and Subtexts in the Ministerial Life (Calvin Institute of Christian Worship Liturgical Studies) [Paperback]

M. Craig Barnes (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 138 pages
• Publisher: Eerdmans Pub Co (December 15, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0802829627
• ISBN-13: 978-0802829627
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #57,329 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

M. Craig Barnes is pastor of Shadyside Presbyterian Church in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. His previous books are Yearning, Hustling God, and When God Interrupts.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding Work on Pastoral Theology, January 16, 2009

By 

Aldhelm of Malmsbury "mam5032" (Charlotte, NC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Pastor As Minor Poet: Texts and Subtexts in the Ministerial Life (Calvin Institute of Christian Worship Liturgical Studies) (Paperback)

Craig Barnes' new work, The Pastor as Minor Poet, says things that all pastors know, experientially and intuitively, but are afraid to say out loud! He pries open the interior life of the pastor as well as the life of the 21st century North American congregation. And the entrails of both seemed inflamed and in need of cure. The cure, for Dr. Barnes, is in the Word of God, the redemptive life of Jesus Christ, offered through "portals" from Scripture. Through these portals the pastor, the Minor Poet, seeks the cure. He connects the story of his life and the people' lives to the story of Christ's life as told, inspired by God, by the Major Poets, the Bibles' writers. Craig Barnes offers a hope and a vision for ministry that is at once vocationally satisfying and Scripturally faithful. I read it and smiled as I found the common places of ministry shared. I then repented as I saw where I had taken wrong approaches in treating the wounds of the flock of Christ. Sometimes I even paused and asked for courage to go on. In the end, I then thanked God for the calling to speak forth the Major Poets' words into this oftentimes dreary, verse-less world. I have been blessed by Barnes' books in the past, but I like this one the best. It is now a required reading for my students in pastoral theology class.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Thoughtful, engaging, creative work, July 2, 2009

By 

Kates (Seattle, WA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Pastor As Minor Poet: Texts and Subtexts in the Ministerial Life (Calvin Institute of Christian Worship Liturgical Studies) (Paperback)

Clearly based in real parish work, Barnes gives a thoughtful and creative image of the pastoral task. Of all the descriptions of pastoral work available out there (CEO, leader, shepherd, teacher, administrator, therapist, theologian, etc.), this is the only one I have found which simultaneously knows the deep frustrations and even deeper joys of pastoral work, and gives a image which can withstand them both. I would highly recommend this for any pastor, particularly those newly ordained or seeking a lasting and powerful understanding of the task.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Pastors will profit from reading this book, August 5, 2010

By 

Christopher Dorn (Milwaukee, WI USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Pastor As Minor Poet: Texts and Subtexts in the Ministerial Life (Calvin Institute of Christian Worship Liturgical Studies) (Paperback)

I read this book in almost one sitting. I was braced by it, finding many of its insights both instructive and helpful. I would recommend it to any pastor or aspiring pastor.

There are several of these insights worth pointing out. The phrase "it's just church" stood out to me. Barnes is right, it seems to me, in reminding us not to expect too much from the church, as if the church is Christ. He helped me in this connection to see the value of the distinction between the "visible" and "invisible" church, a distinction that in my opinion ecclesiology needs to recover.

I was especially impressed by his observation about the contemporary obsession over identity. I determine who I am by what I do; I cannot have a secure identity unless I find a profession that fulfills me. Whenever ones see the language of "calling" or "vocation" in the NT, it is always in reference to belonging to Christ. Our calling is to enjoy communion with Christ. This recognition could relieve the pressure under which many people labor in their pursuit of that spouse or that profession they believe constitutes their "calling."

The idea of pastor as minor poet is very helpful. When Barnes describes the task of the pastor as discerning the grace of God in the ordinary routines of people's lives, I found myself concurring with him. He's right in stressing that a pastor connects with people when he is able to participate in their mundane conversations about concerns which strike the idealistic recent seminary graduate as petty. The grace of God is found in the "petty." Christ is at work in the ordinary routines of people's lives, sanctifying them precisely in and through their routines. The examples he gives from his own pastoral experience were moving. I found myself almost moved to tears when he narrated the experience of the single working mother in one of the early chapters.

I do have a few points of criticism. It is important to acknowledge that there are legitimate human needs and that there is a legitimate place for their fulfillment. We shouldn't relegate them to "presenting needs" or dismiss them as "symptomatic" of a deeper need (communion with Christ). I don't think Barnes would disagree with me here, but I do find the use of this language problematic. It seems to draw more inspiration from popular psychology than the New Testament. Sometimes a cigar is only a cigar--sometimes a desire for a spouse and family is just that. Sometimes what a person needs most urgently is a job. A related point is that to view legitimate needs through this lens can reflect and perpetuate a status quo politics. High unemployment or dissatisfying work can be a call to institutional and structural reform to which we respond because we are concerned about justice in the here and now. To respond to this call by saying something to the effect that regardless of what are the real conditions of our lives we can always be be content that we are loved by God in Christ can be a form of escapism, against which the church and its leaders need to be vigilant.