Jesus' closest disciples did not initially believe the message of Jesus' resurrection. Instead, they doubted. Luke tells us that they even went so far as to categorize the story of the women who encountered angels at the tomb as "nonsense." This terms comes from the medical realm and refers to the delirious ravings of someone overcome …
Recovering Prayer [Working the Angles with Eugene Peterson, part 4]
For the majority of the Christian centuries most pastors have been convinced that prayer is the central and essential act for maintaining the essential shape of the ministry to which they were ordained. With this strong word, Eugene Peterson begins his exploration of the first of the three angles of pastoral ministry: prayer. Peterson suggests …
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The Holy Trigonometry of Pastoral Calling [Working the Angles with Eugene Peterson, part 3]
In his attempt to recover the essence of pastoral ministry and help pastor's hold onto their essential vocation, Eugene Peterson takes an image from an unlikely source: mathematics. I have found a metaphor from trigonometry to be useful in keeping this clear; I see these three essential acts of ministry as the angles of a …
Learning to Pay Attention [Working the Angles with Eugene Peterson, part 2]
If we are to hold onto our identity and calling as pastors in North America, then we must resist the consumer-driven impulses that have infested our culture and even the church. We must become, as Eugene Peterson suggest, more than religious shopkeepers who keep the budget growing, the building improving, and the congregation busy. We …
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Abandoning Our Pastoral Calling [Working the Angles with Eugene Peterson, part 1]
In reflecting on the ways Eugene Peterson shaped my pastoral ministry after his passing (see "Remembering Eugene Peterson") on Monday, October 22, I took a look through his writings again. I asked myself a number of questions, amongst them being: what was it about Peterson that helped me so greatly as a pastor? I saw a …
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Matthew Erickson 