How Have Modern Ways of “Doing Church” Fallen Short?

I think that modern ministry has had a lot of fruit come from it, and perhaps a lot of good methods have been produced. Typically, what it doesn’t do, though, is to care about the soul of the pastor.

Religion Sep 1, 2024 0 9 Add to Reading List

How Have Modern Ways of “Doing Church” Fallen Short?

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August 30, 2024 by: Coleman M. Ford, Shawn J. Wilhite

An Oversight

I think that modern ministry has had a lot of fruit come from it, and perhaps a lot of good methods have been produced. Typically, what it doesn’t do, though, is to care about the soul of the pastor. It’s more primarily concerned with people in the pews, getting certain numbers on the board, and things like that.

There might be value in looking at those things. Pastors need to be fed by the contemplation of God through their own spiritual disciplines, through their own practice of silence and solitude, seeking to devotionally mine out the Scriptures for themselves.

Though we may talk about that in certain spaces like conferences or some books here and there, typically, pastoral leadership and pastoral ministry concern themselves more with pragmatics, more with getting the job done, and meeting the needs of others rather than allowing those needs to be met out of the overflow of a pastor’s soul.

Coleman M. Ford and Shawn J. Wilhite are authors of Ancient Wisdom for the Care of Souls: Learning the Art of Pastoral Ministry from the Church Fathers.

Coleman M. Ford (PhD, Southern Seminary) is an assistant professor of humanities at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas. He serves as a fellow for the Center for Pastor Theologians. He is also the codirector and research fellow for the Center for Ancient Christian Studies. He also serves as an assistant pastor. He is published in the areas of patristic theology and Christian spirituality.

Shawn J. Wilhite (PhD, Durham University) is an associate professor of New Testament at California Baptist University in Riverside, California. He is also the codirector and research fellow for the Center for Ancient Christian Studies. He has published books and articles in the areas of New Testament, early Christianity, and patristic literature.

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