Under the Unpredictable Plant: An Exploration in Vocational Holiness [Paperback]

Eugene H. Peterson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1994

In Under the Unpredictable Plant respected pastor, author, and educator Eugene Peterson clarifies the pastoral vocation by turning to the biblical book of Jonah, in which he finds a captivating, subversive story that can help pastors recover their vocational holiness. Using the Jonah story as a narrative structure, Peterson probes the spiritual dimensions of the pastoral calling and seeks to reclaim the ground taken over by those who are trying to enlist pastors in religious careers.

Product Details

• Paperback: 206 pages
• Publisher: Eerdmans Pub Co (January 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0802808484
• ISBN-13: 978-0802808486
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #185,931 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Peterson, now retired, was for many years James M. Houston Professor of Spiritual Theology at Regent College in Vancouver, British Columbia. He also served as founding pastor of Christ Our King Presbyterian Church in Bel Air, Maryland. In addition to his widely acclaimed paraphrase of the Bible, The Message (NavPress), he has written many other books.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I highly recommend this book to all Christian leaders., December 22, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Under the Unpredictable Plant: An Exploration in Vocational Holiness (Paperback)

I have been in lay leadership for over 20 years and this is the most accurate description of Christian ministry I have ever read. How can we avoid being shaped by a congregation's longing for comfortable religiosity yet value lay spirituality? Peterson poses the question then gives us his story, his guts and his heart. I was deeply moved by his challenge to all Christian leaders to form a rule of life equal to our vocations. I plan to read this book again and again.

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Required reading for all ministers!, May 16, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Under the Unpredictable Plant: An Exploration in Vocational Holiness (Paperback)

If you are: (a) a minister, (b) considering becoming a minister, (c) preparing to preach through the book of Jonah and/or(d)make up any combination of the preceding, this book should be required reading for you. As you read, prepare to be challenged ("The religious leader is the most untrustworthy of leaders: in no other station do we have so many opportunities for pride, for covetousness, for lust, or so many excellent disguises at hand to keep such ignobility from being found out and called to account." - page 15). As you read, prepare to glean insights ("The primary task, the pastor's primary task, is not communication but communion." - page 192) As you read, prepare to add substantially to your quote file ("Prayer is the most deeply human action in which we can engage. Behavior we have in common with the animals. Thinking we have in common with the angels. But prayer - the attentiveness and responsiveness of the human being before God - this is human." - page 111) As you read this book, prepare to be shaped by it!

31 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars PASTORS....Listen carefully., February 1, 1999

By 

[e-mail] (The Belly of the Fish) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Under the Unpredictable Plant: An Exploration in Vocational Holiness (Paperback)

I am pastor of a United Methodist two-point charge. Two churches. Many headaches. I've been here three and a half years. I am told numerous pastors "start-out" in smaller, typically rural or town churches as mine are. Then we get noticed and we get moved on up the ladder. Better appointment--better pay--more prestige--better location. How many pastors buy into "the ladder"? More than you think. But Peterson does not. This book planted my feet deeply within my call. I wanted to move into bigger, better, different pastorates. Peterson would tell me, "You wanted to go to Tarshish instead of Ninevah." His book forced me to recognize that the grass is not greener in a different parish. Comparing me to Jonah, Peterson left me no excuse of any theological integrity to leave my two-point charge. So here I stay. But Mr. Peterson, if you read this..."Under the Unpredictable Plant" is a horrible title. Few of the dozens of people to whom I have recommended your book can remember that crazy thought.