Leadership Journal

A friend wrote in his church newsletter that a series of books he'd just read changed the way he viewed ministry. His wife, he reported, said it changed him.

We were curious.

"What is this terrific series that has transformed your ministry? Is it Maxwell, or Anderson, or Schaller? Is it purpose-driven or tsunami-driven? What's it about?"

"Mitford," he replied, almost sheepishly. "It's a small town in North Carolina, a quirky mountain village. The main characters are an Episcopal priest and his dog. The people are odd, and this pastor, he—just—loves 'em." The Mitford series of novels, by Jan Karon, is a publishing phenomenon.

But this was so out-of-character for this aggressive, goal-oriented pastor. Once a manufacturer of bomber jets, he came to ministry later in life. In 12 years at his only pastorate, he has relocated the church to 20 acres out by the interstate, personally supervised construction of new facilities, hired staff, and watched his sweet neighborhood church triple in size, becoming a dynamic regional ministry.

Now he was talking fiction. Labradors. County fairs. Orange marmalade cakes.

"I couldn't read these books fast enough," he said. "I've fallen in love with pastoring all over again."

We were fascinated, partly because we knew this man's take-no-prisoners approach to ministry, and partly because we've heard from others lately who aren't sure what it means to pastor in this new era.

Pastors are expected to be so many things. Premodern Paul said he was "all things to all men." His postmodern counterparts find that list getting longer and longer. The pastor is at various times chaplain, cheerleader, coach, CEO, visionary, fundraiser, preacher, plumber, spiritual director, fellow struggler, disciplinarian, confidant, and urgent care coordinator.

The complexity of the task is compounded by the uncertainty of our times. How do we preach to emerging generations who hear languages we don't speak? How do we minister in cultures we barely recognize? And should we do it all at Internet speed?

Searching for answers, at least one pastor journeyed to Mitford. But even Mitford has its underside. You see contrary elders and church politics, windfall and poverty, abuse and abandonment; the conflict of youth with age, and church secretaries with technology; disasters, romance, and gossip. (You'll feel right at home.)

And through it all, Father Tim finds a way to shepherd his flock. He is sometimes gentle, sometimes stern, but always prayerful and mostly loving.

In mythical Mitford, you meet a pastor who loves pastoring. But would we find the same in Chicago? or Seattle? or Jackson?

We did. As we asked pastors how they handled the task in changing times, we found some moved up, some downsized, some reshaped their preaching. Most are reinventing themselves. And all we met still love whatever it is they do—that's pastoring.

E. Glenn Wagner

Weary of models and movements, I needed to go back to basics.

One pastor brought his ...