The work of the pastor each weekend moves from the place where God's Word is proclaimed and prayers are offered to the ordinary places and relationships of people’s lives met immediately after the service. Eugene Peterson describes it this way: The people having received the benediction, now make a disorderly re-entry into a world of …
The Pastoral Work of Prayer-Directing: Song of Songs [Five Smooth Stones for Pastoral Work by Eugene Peterson, part 2]
As I continue my journey of re-learning and recovering what it means to be a pastor, I am blogging my way through Eugene Peterson's Five Smooth Stones for Pastoral Work. In this book, Peterson seeks to recover a sense of pastoral practice and integrity based on the Megilloth, the five scrolls connected with five key …
Recovering Pastoral Practice [Five Smooth Stones for Pastoral Work by Eugene Peterson, part 1]
I first stumbled into the work of Eugene Peterson in the 1990s through his translation work with The Message. It was not too much later, however, that a pastor and mentor introduced me to his writing on pastoral ministry, sometimes referred to as Eugene Peterson's Pastoral Library. About three years ago, I re-read and steadily …
10 Reasons Holy Week Can Become More Powerful during the Time of the Virus
Holy Week is the pinnacle of our Lenten journey, drawing us into the Passion of Jesus. This year, our Holy Week journey finds us simultaneously facing into one of the worst crises of our lives with the COVID-19 pandemic. This past weekend I reflected on the significance of this intersection of Holy Week and COVID-19, …
Continue reading "10 Reasons Holy Week Can Become More Powerful during the Time of the Virus"
Recovering the Wonder of Advent: Four pathways for preaching in Advent
I had the privilege to write an article on preaching in Advent for Preaching Today, which was just recently released. You can read the entire article, "Recovering the Wonder of Advent: Four pathways for preaching in Advent," at Preaching Today, but here's a taste of what you will find there. In my childhood, one of the greatest …
Continue reading "Recovering the Wonder of Advent: Four pathways for preaching in Advent"
Matthew Erickson 