Helps pastors adopt an approach to ministry that is effective, enjoyable and sustainable.
Being a pastor is not a regular 9-to-5 job. There is an unending list of important things to do as you seek to serve others sacrificially. The demands of ministry make it difficult to find a healthy rhythm of life and work, and can leave you running on empty. How can we develop a sustainable pattern of ministry that both honours the Lord and the people we care for and that will also protect us from burnout?
Ronnie Martin and Brian Croft have each spent decades pastoring churches and supporting ministry leaders. Here they encourage fellow shepherds to embrace a more present-focused, unhurried approach to ministry. They show how this starts with accepting their humanity, pursuing humility and remembering the hope they have in Christ. They also exhort pastors to fuel their ministry with self-awareness, prayer and contemplation of Jesus.
After giving a framework for this approach to ministry, the authors offer lots of practical advice regarding prioritisation, managing schedules and cultivating supportive friendships.
Read this book to deepen your joy, help yourself to serve others more effectively and continue serving God in ministry for many years to come.
Introduction
Part 1: Preparation
Chapter 1: Humanity
Chapter 2: Humility
Chapter 3: Hopefulness
Part 2: Power
Chapter 4: Self-Awareness
Chapter 5: Contemplation
Chapter 6: Prayer
Part 3: Pursuit
Chapter 7: Schedule
Chapter 8: Self-Care
Chapter 9: Silence
Chapter 10: Empathy
Chapter 11: Expectation
Chapter 12: Friendship
Conclusion
| Contributors | Brian Croft, Ronnie Martin |
|---|---|
| ISBN | 9781784989583 |
| Format | eBook |
| First published | May 2024 |
| Language | English |
| Publisher | The Good Book Company |
What Brian Croft and Ronnie Martin have accomplished for ministers here is astounding—a deeply personal work that sensitively reaches into the humanity of pastoral ministry while remaining rooted in the supernaturalizing ministry of the gospel. Slow down, read it prayerfully, and have your heart strengthened by grace.
This book is much more than a compendium of tips to slow down your life and ministry. It is an invitation to minister not just at the pace of Jesus but also in the presence of Jesus. Written from a trial-and-error perspective, Ronnie and Brian honestly examine how the practices of contemplation, prayer, and silence can work against our ingrained habits of speed and productivity in order to take us deeper into the wisdom of God. More importantly, they repeatedly draw out insight from Scripture to recalibrate our hearts to hum with grace. I hope you’ll read this book and pray as insights land on you in each chapter, so you can be formed on the spot by God’s beautifying word.
The Unhurried Pastor provides a practical and biblical prescription for a healthy and productive pastoral ministry in the face of a discouraging diagnosis and pathetic prognosis of pastoral ministry. With their weathered honesty, authors Brian Croft and Ronnie Martin urge pastors to be about their Father’s business in an unhurried manner. Their work offers fresh, new ways for traditional and nontraditional pastors to reclaim spiritual disciplines that prioritize being over doing while encouraging sustainable pastoral journeys.
How can pastors prevent burnout and find balance? In The Unhurried Pastor, Brian Croft and Ronnie Martin redefine productivity for a more sustainable ministry.
Our Limit-Less God
The book begins by remembering the humanity of pastors. This means remembering the physical, spiritual, and emotional components that make us humans. I was reminded that we are limited, and was encouraged to seek our limit-less God.
Humble and Hopeful
I was most interested to read on the pastor’s need for silence. Pastors can easily use noise to block out the pain in their lives. Embracing silence allows us to expose our soul to God, confront the voices that we hear in our minds, and listen to God.
Do Less to Accomplish More
The book concludes by saying that the unhurried pastor experiences more and deeper joy from ministry, is a more effective pastor, and has the best chance of being a pastor for the long haul. The less busy we are, the more free we are to do the essentially Christian acts. I am inspired to do less to accomplish more for Christ and his kingdom.
I received a media copy of The Unhurried Pastor and this is my honest review.
Co-authored by two very experienced pastors, 'The Unhurried Pastor' highlights the need for a shift within leadership culture and the culture of the church at large to reconsider the importance of spiritual formation in the life of a pastor. It argues the case that permission must be given, both from church members but more so from the pastors to themselves, for the space, and for the slower pace, for this to happen. Pastors should be prime examples of spiritual health to their flock but this will not be attainable without following the principles outlined in this very helpful book.
This is an outstanding resource. It takes a very biblical approach to pastoral ministry which has been lost in recent years with the "church CEO" role having developed and the pastoral role having been all but discarded in our churches.
In this book, Brian Croft and Ronnie Martin dig deeply into what it looks like for pastors to choose a less hurried pace of life, and they encourage pastors to remember that they are not superhuman, and that regardless of their ministry titles, their core identity is that God created them and loves them.
Croft and Martin emphasize how important it is for pastors to cultivate their own spiritual lives instead of just pouring into others, and they explore ways that pastors can slow down and adopt a less hurried pace through character traits like humility and self-awareness, and through practices such as silence and contemplation, prayer, rest, and friendship. This book also addresses the importance of men respecting and dealing with their emotions, instead of stuffing their feelings through the culturally encouraged approach of self-reliance and stoicism.
The authors care deeply about discouraged and burnt out pastors, and they share biblical advice and experiential wisdom in a caring, gentle way. I appreciate their honesty about their own struggles, and they share a refreshing perspective on core practices for mental, physical, and spiritual wellness. My only critique is that this book focuses primarily on a pastor's self-imposed burdens, without providing much insight into how a pastor can engage with other people's unhealthy demands and expectations.
I would recommend this thoughtful, encouraging book to an even broader audience than the title indicates. Even though the authors wrote this book for vocational pastors, the core message and many of the examples will also apply to men and women in volunteer positions at church, Christian nonprofit work, and other fields of ministry. Many people will benefit from this book's thoughtful diagnosis of a common problem, and from the practical steps that the authors recommend towards greater wellness and ministry sustainability.
Note: I received a free copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
This book is an excellent read for those who are currently pastors, looking to become pastors or even doing ministry vocationally. This book is directed those who are pastors but if you are doing vocational ministry, I think this book could still be a useful read and you could still find many things to apply.
The book is split into three parts that allow for you to understand what it means to be an unhurried pastor, how to prepare for it, and how to pursue it.
Overall, this book is very practical while also doing the groundwork of allowing you to understand the why behind each thing.
A quote that stood out to me right at the beginning of the book is, “The reality is most of us try to shepherd like superheroes—but the problem is there’s nothing super human about us. Before I assume the title of pastor, shepherd, elder, preacher, teacher, author, speaker, or counselor, I am a person who is fearfully and wonderfully made in the image of God.”
At the end of the book, in the appendix there is a Daily Spiritual Health Plan which is a great practical resource.
Overall, this book is Biblical, practical, and would be a great read for somebody who is just starting off as a pastor or in ministry as well as those who are seasoned veterans!
I did receive a copy of this book from The Good Book Company in exchange for an honest review!
It's a well-known problem that pastors are always too busy and too rushed. There's never enough time to do everything that you possibly could to care for the flock, but it feels like you 'should' do as much as is physically possible. The problem is that eventually this just leads to burnout! In The Unhurried Pastor, Croft and Marin make the case for doing things differently, trying to redefine productivity and work on the heart rather than just defining your own success by how much you get through on your to-do list. This is a very good book for a new pastor who wants to get their expectations right for what 'success' looks like, but also a helpful reminder for some of us who have been in ministry a bit longer!
