THE LEADERSHIP LIBRARY

Returning to the Art of Spiritual Direction

The Contemplative Pastor

Volume

17

Eugene H. Peterson

THE CONTEMPLATIVE PASTOR

© 1989 Christianity Today, Inc.

A leadership/Word Book. Copublished by Christianity Today, Inc. and Word, Inc. Distributed by Word Books.

Cover art by Paul Turnbaugh

All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in reviews, no part of this book may be reproduced in any form or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission from the publisher.

Unless otherwise noted, Scripture references are taken from the Revised Standard Version.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Peterson, Eugene H., 1932

The contemplative pastor: returning to the art of spiritual direction / Eugene H. Peterson.

p. c.m—(The Leadership library; v. 17)

ISBN 0-017463-22-6

1. Clergy—Office. 2. Pastoral theology. 3. Peterson, Eugene H., 1932–. 4. Christian poetry, American. I. Title. II. Series.

BV660.2.P48 1989 253.5—dc19

88-8497

CIP

For H. James Riddell

γνήσιοϚ σύζυγοϚ

CONTENTS

Introduction

Part I

Redefinitions

1 The Naked Noun

2 The Unbusy Pastor

3 The Subversive Pastor

4 The Apocalyptic Pastor

Part II

Between Sundays

5 Ministry Amid the Traffic

6 Curing Souls: The Forgotten Art

7 Praying With Eyes Open

8 First Language

9 Is Growth a Decision?

10 The Ministry of Small Talk

11 Unwell in a New Way

12 Lashed to the Mast

13 Desert and Harvest: A Sabbatical Story

Part III

The Word Made Fresh

14 Poets and Pastors

15 Poems

INTRODUCTION

If Eugene H. Peterson were not a Presbyterian, he might be a monk. His best-known books, from A Long Obedience in the Same Direction to Traveling Light to Earth and Altar, deal with the practice of Christian spirituality.

And Eugene is of a monastic demeanor. He is bearded, balding, and thin. He has a quiet, raspy voice that sounds as if it belongs to a man who has weathered many dark nights of the soul. His is the settled and serene air that comes from facing and overcoming our innate fear of silence and solitude, so that when he speaks, the coarse, gentle words seem to rise from a genuine depth.

But monastic demeanor aside, Peterson is a thoroughgoing Protestant, enough so to be pastor of Christ Our King Presbyterian Church in Bel Air, Maryland. He decided early in his work never to pastor a church composed of more people than he could remember by name. He and his wife, Jan, have been at Christ Our King, a congregation of some 300 members, for twenty-six years.

Beginning especially with the 1980 publication of A Long Obedience, Eugene has earned a widespread (if appropriately low-key) reputation as a thoughtful, articulate pastor who understands the spiritual disciplines and can communicate their practice.

He pastors and writes from a scholarly background, having mastered the biblical languages and done doctoral-level work with the magisterial William F. Albright. ...