The Unnecessary Pastor: Rediscovering the Call [Paperback]

Marva J. Dawn (Author), Peter Santucci (Editor), Eugene H. Peterson (Contributor)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 1999

Best-selling authors Eugene Peterson and Marva Dawn offer encouragement to the leaders of today's counter-culture movement. Pastors are strategically placed to counter the culture. No other profession looks so inoffensive but is in fact so dangerous to the status quo. Their weapon 'A gospel that is profoundly countercultural. But standing firm in today's world isn't easy. Powerful forces, both subtle and obvious, attempt to domesticate pastors, to make them, in a word, unnecessary. In this volume, two of today's most respected authors help pastors recover their gospel identity and maintain a pure vision of Christian leadership. Eugene Peterson and Marva Dawn here reconnect pastors with the biblical texts that will train them as countercultural servants of the gospel. In his section of the book, Peterson explores Romans, 1 and 2 Timothy, and Titus, drawing from them the correct view of pastoral identity. In turn, Dawn looks to Paul's letter to the Ephesians for instruction for churches seeking to live faithfully in today's world. Packed with encouraging insights from experienced practitioners, this book is must reading for anyone involved in church or parachurch leadership or for anyone now preparing for ministry.

Product Details

• Paperback: 266 pages
• Publisher: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company (September 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0802846785
• ISBN-13: 978-0802846785
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.9 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #288,109 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Marva J. Dawn serves the global Church as a theologian, author, musician, and educator under Christians Equipped for Ministry and as Teaching Fellow in Spiritual Theology at Regent College in Vancouver, British Columbia. A scholar with four master's degrees and a Ph.D. in Christian Ethics and the Scriptures from the University of Notre Dame, Dr. Dawn has taught for clergy and worship conferences and at seminaries throughout the world. She is also well-known and highly appreciated as a preacher and speaker for all ages and sometimes contributes to worship by means of her musical gifts. She is the author of more than fifteen books and is happy married to Myron Sandberg; they reside in Washington State.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Masterful Challange, May 29, 2000

By 

Harold Berciunas - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Unnecessary Pastor: Rediscovering the Call (Paperback)

Again Peterson exemplifies the heart of the true pastor. This is my first time reading Marva Dawn. I just finished this book and found much to help me in the midst of being a small rural church pastor.

I was surprised by the review by the reader in Ohio. Although the other works by Peterson, flow better, the dialogue between Dawn and Peterson was refreshing.

Ephesians is the classic source for biblically modeled community. Timothy and Titus have been the classic resources for young pastors. The exegesis and insight from these two authors/ pastors/teachers has been highly encouraging and releasing for this new pastor who is trying to discover how to effectively lead God's people into holy living and community.

I reccomend this book as a excellent resource for pastoral theology, for young pastors, for teaching or preaching these texts and anyone seeking to get a firm grasp on the role of pastor.

I would not suggest this book as a first (or maybe even second) experience with Peterson, mostly due to the dialogue format.

Marva Dawn, at least in this book, doesn't not measure up to the mastery of Peterson. However, my interest in her work was futher sparked. I plan to buy and read a Marva Dawn book today.

The Bibliography is also full of great works for the pastor.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Ancient Future Vision of Christian Leadership, March 30, 2000

By 

Bryan D. Burton (Seattle, Washington USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Unnecessary Pastor: Rediscovering the Call (Paperback)

With the publication of "The Unnecessary Pastor: Rediscovering the Call" two of the finest authors of spiritual theology have offered an excellent navigational guide to Christian leadership in the twenty-first century. Based on lectures given at Regent College to a large gathering of Christian and community leaders, Eugene Peterson and Marva Dawn pointedly call for leaders to find a new sense of "freedom" in being "unnecessary" according to current culture's definitions of success and power.

While Peterson seeks to define what it means to be "unnecessary" through reflections drawn from the rich diversity of Christian leaders in the the New Testament such as the Apostle Paul at Rome, Timothy at Ephesus and Titus at Crete, Dawn invites the reader to "rediscover" one's call before God (vocation), to take the call to "triumph over the principalities and powers of evil" seriously, and to allow the Spirit of Christ to transform both individuals and communities into vibrant people and places filled with presence of Christ.

Ultimately, Peterson and Dawn are seeking to lead the reader into a new discovery of what it means to live out one's calling before God, most commonly called vocation, in a time where most people simply pursue occupations and careers, both in the church and in wider society. So at the very outset of the book, Peterson, utilizing the ordination vows used in many churches and denominations, points the reader towards an affirmative and directive answer to this question, "Will you in your own life, seek to follow the Lord Jesus Christ, love your neighbor and work for the reconciliation of the world?" So if you are looking for both an affirmation and discovery of what it means to live out a vocation rather than simply pursuing an occupation/career, this book will guide you there and take you deeper than you can ever imagine. A helpful additional comment would be that an excellent companion to this work would be Os Guinness' "The Call: Finding and Fulfilling the Central Purpose of Your Life". Trust me, you will not be disappointed with either!

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Reason not the need..., May 29, 2003

By 

FrKurt Messick "FrKurt Messick" (Bloomington, IN USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: The Unnecessary Pastor: Rediscovering the Call (Paperback)

I read this book just after my ordination three years ago.

Why would someone who was just ordained be reading a book subtitled 'Rediscovering the Call'? Why would someone who hopes to make a profession out of the vocation to ordained ministry be reading, much less recommending, a book entitled 'The Unnecessary Pastor'?

Marva Dawn and Eugene Peterson have put together a book useful for experienced ministers as well as those in training, or even just thinking about ministry. Ministry consists of more than the one who stands up at the pulpit or behind the altar. This book helps shift the focus from that tradition role, fraught with danger and limitation, to explore the more counter-cultural calls that the Bible really expects of those called ministers.

'We are unnecessary to what the culture presumes is important: as paragons of goodness and niceness. Culture has a fairly high regard for pastors as custodians of moral order. We are viewed as persons who provide a background of social stability, who are useful in times of crisis and serve as symbols of meaning and purpose. But we are not necessary in any of those ways.'

Peterson recounts the tale of wanting to host a conference with the same title (The Unnecessary Pastor), but was advised against it by someone who said that no one wants to hear that her/his job is irrelevant, as the title implies. Peterson was advised to put a more positive spin on the title, but in fact left it as is, and the conference was oversubscribed.

People everywhere are looking for ways to reconnect to a more authentic way of being. Pastors and ministers are no different; in fact, they are probably even more in search of this reconnexion given the focus of their lives (or, at least, professional lives) in the first place.

Dawn speaks of the language of faith and God as similar to an unfinished Shakespeare play: how would we produce it? What resources would we draw upon? Could we ever write as well as Shakespeare? What improvisations would be needed? In much the same way, the church has been given the unfinished work of God, and we must improvise in our imperfect way to strive to give a good performance, full of meaning as true to the author as we can.

Pastors above all are called to lives that are formed and then transformed. Grace must be present in all we do, and not tailored to the demands of the world. 'It is interesting to me that religious liberals and conservatives are often unwitting allies in their attempts to translate the gospel into the world's terms. ... Churches find themselves powerless in the world and not able to invite our neighbours into the faith because we don't live in ways that give any warrant for belief.'

The call is also one of formation and transformation of community. The stronger the community, the less needed will be the pastor, in many ways. The pastor may be freed to become a true disciple, without having to cater to the whims of congregation members, or worry about the plumbing and the lighting bill. The stronger the community and the more supportive it will be, the greater the pastor will be able to respond, and in turn make the community and world more responsive.

Dawn and Peterson draw on resources from many denominations, major scholars and ancient wisdom, linking very closely the Biblical ideas of ministry to their exposition of the true necessity of today's community.