This Odd and Wondrous Calling offers something different from most books available on ministry. Two people still pastoring reflect honestly here on both the joys and the challenges of their vocation. / Anecdotal and extremely readable, the book covers a diversity of subjects revealing the incredible variety of a pastor’s day. The chapters move from comedy to pathos, story to theology, Scripture to contemporary culture. This Odd and Wondrous Calling is both serious and fun and is ideal for those who are considering the ministry or who want a better understanding of their own minister’s life.
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About the Author
Lillian Daniel is the senior minister of the First Congregational Church of Glen Ellyn and a host of the Chicago-based television program “30 Good Minutes.” She is also the author of numerous articles and Tell It Like It Is: Reclaiming the Practice of Testimony.
Martin B. Copenhaver is senior pastor of Wellesley Congregational Church in Wellesley, Massachusetts. His other books include Living Faith While Holding Doubts and To Begin at the Beginning.
Martin B. Copenhaver is senior pastor of Wellesley Congregational Church in Wellesley, Massachusetts. His other books include Living Faith While Holding Doubts and To Begin at the Beginning.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
29 of 30 people found the following review helpful
By R. C. Stout
Format:Paperback
At last there is a book about "what it's like to be a minister" and not a "how to do it right" book about ministry and it's written with candor and integrity. Lillian Daniel and Martin Copenhaver are both excellent writers in their own right and together they are the perfect writing duo to bring to light the realities of "This Odd and Wondrous Calling" that is parish ministry. I am now retired having been ordained 46 years ago and my wife and I both feel this is a book that should become required reading for every seminarian anticipating a career in parish ministry. Nowhere else will a "budding" clergy, female or male, find such a healthy and thoughtful reflection on the profession they are preparing to enter. And every lay person needs to read this book as well to learn something about themselves, they being "the church", as well as something about what their pastors experience. There is self-deprecating humor and honest self examination as these two dedicated professionals walk the reader through their professional experiences revealing both their foibles and the achievements that surprise them, but most of all they are not embarrassed to conclude that what they do is an "odd and wondrous calling" and not "a job." Bob Stout, Retired UCC Miinister
15 of 16 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
A potential occupational hazard of ordained ministry is certainly loneliness (ironic in a setting filled with people), as highlighted by a recent Christian Century article on clergy depression. As such, this little gem of a book by Lillian Daniel and Martin Copenhaver is a bracing tonic, giving expression to what has been heretofore the secret life of pastors. Both authors write movingly of their particular and peculiar experiences, yet the emotions evoked will likely resonate universally with ministers.
The "Shaking Hands" chapter alone captures the hilarious and harrowing experience many pastors have on Sunday mornings, post-worship......in trying to keep track not just of names, but so many diverse personal narratives of the congregation! It's enough to make a pastor's head spin: while one parish member seeks a merry backslap and hearty quip, the very next might be enduring an agonizing wilderness wandering. The delicacy and sensitivity needed to be a pastor is brought to life beautifully throughout this collection.
Indeed, there are many books on pastoral ministry, yet I've found few as honest as this one. The pairing of Lillian and Martin--different ages, different genders--makes the vulnerability arising especially potent and relevant. Aside from sustaining and entertaining those of us "in the biz," I plan on suggesting this book to many laity at my parish. Because in the Facebook age of "collective wisdom" that we now find ourselves in, our understandings of each other (lay + ordained folks) is especially critical to unlock the potential of God's new church being born.
Like parenting, ministry is both the hardest and the most sublime thing I have ever done. For all its oddness, these two authors remind me of the awe I feel in being called to such wondrous work.
The "Shaking Hands" chapter alone captures the hilarious and harrowing experience many pastors have on Sunday mornings, post-worship......in trying to keep track not just of names, but so many diverse personal narratives of the congregation! It's enough to make a pastor's head spin: while one parish member seeks a merry backslap and hearty quip, the very next might be enduring an agonizing wilderness wandering. The delicacy and sensitivity needed to be a pastor is brought to life beautifully throughout this collection.
Indeed, there are many books on pastoral ministry, yet I've found few as honest as this one. The pairing of Lillian and Martin--different ages, different genders--makes the vulnerability arising especially potent and relevant. Aside from sustaining and entertaining those of us "in the biz," I plan on suggesting this book to many laity at my parish. Because in the Facebook age of "collective wisdom" that we now find ourselves in, our understandings of each other (lay + ordained folks) is especially critical to unlock the potential of God's new church being born.
Like parenting, ministry is both the hardest and the most sublime thing I have ever done. For all its oddness, these two authors remind me of the awe I feel in being called to such wondrous work.
12 of 13 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
It is extremely difficult to write a book delving so deeply into the stuff of parish ministry and living out our faith in ways as insightful and authentic as this book. But to do all of this while appealing equally to pastors and to laity is a singular achievement. I seldom see such a thing. This book is so readable and engaging, it is tough to put down.
As a pastor, I vouch for the struggles and joys here attested to. It's a life of which most laypersons have surprisingly little awareness. This splendid book pulls back the veil around us in an honest, helpful way. Nothing in this glimpse is cheap. This is how things are, friends! As an author, I applaud the wide embrace of the readership, including all of the church of Jesus Christ. A book like this is long overdue. Why wasn't it written before? A thoughtful layperson in my church was touched by it and wrote the following:
"What is more inscrutable--or more delectably interesting--than the pastor's inner life? In "This Odd and Wondrous Calling" Martin Copenhaver and Lillian Daniel open their hearts and minds to candidly give us a look into the personal challenges and triumphs, both large and small, of being called to the ministry. It is a window that humanizes their struggles, joys and faith in a way that is inspiring to us all."
As a pastor, I vouch for the struggles and joys here attested to. It's a life of which most laypersons have surprisingly little awareness. This splendid book pulls back the veil around us in an honest, helpful way. Nothing in this glimpse is cheap. This is how things are, friends! As an author, I applaud the wide embrace of the readership, including all of the church of Jesus Christ. A book like this is long overdue. Why wasn't it written before? A thoughtful layperson in my church was touched by it and wrote the following:
"What is more inscrutable--or more delectably interesting--than the pastor's inner life? In "This Odd and Wondrous Calling" Martin Copenhaver and Lillian Daniel open their hearts and minds to candidly give us a look into the personal challenges and triumphs, both large and small, of being called to the ministry. It is a window that humanizes their struggles, joys and faith in a way that is inspiring to us all."
Most Recent Customer Reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
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This book provided a thoughtful, humorous, and realistic look at the lives of two ministers in churches similar to the one I attend. I enjoyed the alternating views of two authors. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Patricia S. Edgar
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Must for All Pastors (and a lot of laypeople)
I owe a lot to my major professor at Drake University, Dr. Dale Miller. For instance, he insisted that this undergraduate, pre-ministerial, student buy and read Reinhold Niebuhr's... Read more
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5.0 out of 5 stars
Wonderful book for pastors... and for personnel committees and for...
As a pastor, I absolutely loved this book. Without trying to tell me "how" to be a more faithful pastor, it painted a picture of the pastor's life, with stories, humor,... Read more
Published 2 months ago by Charlie
5.0 out of 5 stars
Required Reading!
This is a wonderful book, filled with anecdotes and genuine witness, and it's very well written. When I took "interim training," I wondered why they hadn't taught us about the... Read more
Published 10 months ago by James S. Crawford
5.0 out of 5 stars
A must read for those going into the ministry
As a lay person I found this book insightful and would suggest it to all persons considering going into the ministry and those who have already chosen this calling. Read more
Published 11 months ago by TommyJC
5.0 out of 5 stars
Staying in Church
Although she tells some important truths, I was crushed by Barbara Brown Taylor's book, Leaving Church. As a parish pastor, I've longed for a book on "Staying In Church. Read more
Published 13 months ago by H. Haverkamp
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent for pastors and the people who love them
I loved this book so much, and recommend it not only to fellow pastors, but also to the people who love us but think we might be a little bit nuts for doing what we do (including... Read more
Published 14 months ago by Katherine Willis Pershey
5.0 out of 5 stars
Important for those on both sides of the pulpit
To recommend this book only for pastors is like preaching to the choir. Yes, it definitely is a good choice for those in pastoral vocations, whether experienced (so they don't have... Read more
Published 16 months ago by H. Laack
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Journey into the Calling
This book, "This Odd and Wondrous Calling" takes us along on the journey that these two Pastors have each taken as a result of responding to that "inner call" to enter the... Read more
Published on December 19, 2010 by A. Vander Meulen
