num_pages: 146
description: Today's pastors -- often expected to be multi-tasking marvels who can make their churches successful -- are understandably confused about their role. Craig Barnes contends that the true calling of a pastor is to help others become fully alive in Christ to be what he calls a minor poet or a poet of the soul. As such pastors are to read the major poets of Scripture and history in light of the dust and grit of daily parish life. The Pastor as Minor Poet eloquently calls pastors to search for a deeper understanding of what they see -- both in the text of Scripture and in the text of their parishioners' lives. A critical part of this poetic vision involves discerning key subtext beneath these texts which allows pastors to preach the heart of the Word and to understand the hearts of their people.
language: English
title: The Pastor as Minor Poet: Texts and Subtexts in the Ministerial Life
publisher: Eerdmans