Reviving a Classical Vision of Pastoral Ministry
The Role of a Pastor
Early in ministry, Shawn and I often heard, “The pastor is supposed to do such and such” regarding various extrabiblical tasks. Several people had expectations that were not rooted in a biblical vision of the pastoral office. It certainly took time for us to learn (and continue to learn) how to remain teachable to some and lead others toward a biblical vision of the pastoral office. But, in general, too many items have been added to the pastor’s job description. According to Scripture, the pastor first and foremost prays (Acts 6), shepherds his people (1 Pet. 5), lives a virtuous life in the Spirit, and upholds sound teaching in local settings.
While writing, I (Coleman) overheard two women describing their church experiences over the last few years. One heard a feel-good message and was then herded out of the sanctuary; she did not feel known or seen. The other said she wanted to be in a church that was more rooted in the community. Both were expressing the desire to attend church in the town where they live, be integrated with others in the community, and be known by their church family and its leaders. This casual conversation in a suburban coffee shop in north Texas over iced lattes perfectly represents why we wrote a book about a biblical vision of ministry. While we don’t want to idolize a specific vision of church life, we do want to bring the ancient voices of the church fathers to bear on this topic. We offer a simple vision of a pastor who prays, tends to people’s souls, and preaches the life-giving word of God. This kind of pastor pursues virtue, contemplation, and slowness. He equips the church and shepherds people’s souls. He cultivates communal and individual liturgies. He leads a local church that, though unknown to the rest of the world, is vital to the surrounding neighborhoods. Overall, the classical pastor is the quiet pastor who displays a peaceful temperament and ministers to souls in his local setting.1
Ancient Wisdom for the Care of Souls
Coleman M. Ford, Shawn J. Wilhite
Professors Coleman M. Ford and Shawn J. Wilhite help pastors to embrace a classic, patristic vision of ministry through a study of pastoral virtues and early church figures.
In order to do this, the classical pastor contemplates and proclaims the beauties of the triune God, the gospel, and the Scriptures, using this to walk with people through their current life into the next. He takes these beauties and shows people how to find joy and happiness in God during this life. In a single day, he may walk with someone who shared the gospel for the first time, someone who criticizes his last sermon, someone whose marriage he officiated but who is now on the verge of divorce, and someone expressing an interest in missions work. Such pastors administer the riches of God to address the complexities of various situations in his congregants’ lives, model godly living, and equip others for ministry. Navigating this pastoral life is, as the fathers said, the “art of arts.”2
More precisely, a classical vision for ministry is characterized by the following marks:
1. Classical Theology
Classical pastoral ministry confesses a theology that rests on the historic confessions of the church—including the three Western creeds (the Nicene, Athanasian, and Apostles’ creeds) and the Chalcedonian Definition—and is informed by the church fathers.
2. Virtue
Classical pastoral ministry holds in high regard the health of the church—especially for the purpose of theological clarity and spiritual care—and this is seen in the flourishing of Christian virtues. Further, the primary qualifications for a pastor are these virtues.
In the pastoral office, to love God is to thoughtfully and prayerfully commune with God, to contemplate and spend time with him.
3. Integrated Spirituality and Theology
Classical pastoral ministry places no unneeded dichotomy between theological study and spiritual feeling. In other words, classical pastors think deeply about the divine mysteries and personally experience them.
4. Local Community
Classical pastoral ministry offers pastoral theology and care within the locus of the local church, and this then spills outward to the wider church for its benefit (not vice versa).
5. Care of Souls
Classical pastoral ministry is a ministry of soul care—for both ministers and the congregation. Care, or curing, of souls is using biblical wisdom to bring true, sustained, and holistic health to the life of the church.
In addition to these marks, we can also identify a main guiding principle of classical vision for pastoral ministry, namely, what the fathers called the “double love,” or love of God and neighbor according to Matthew 22:37–40. Here, Jesus said, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”
In the pastoral office, to love God is to thoughtfully and prayerfully commune with God, to contemplate and spend time with him. This activity cannot be measured on a chart and is rarely seen by others. To love one’s neighbor is to thoughtfully and prayerfully connect with people in one’s congregation and community through preaching, soul care, discipleship, evangelism, and presence. These activities can be measured but not necessarily the results.
Thus, in this classical vision for pastoral ministry, depth of theology and care of souls go hand in hand. Defining theology as a purely intellectual enterprise betrays a misunderstanding of theology altogether. And pursuing soul care apart from a deep well of theology leads to dry human pursuits with parched human solutions. Instead, we must drink from the deepest well of contemplative theology to minister to all those who are thirsty. Early Christian pastors dug a deep well of theology to bring forth water for the care of souls, and we can glean many insights from this tradition that will help us deepen our ministry, enrich our theological reflection, and vivify our spiritual communion with God.
Notes:
- This is not to say that humble pastors will not be noticed or lauded by others but that they do not seek acclaim in their pastoral ministry. A recent example of such a pastor is Timothy Keller. While well-known and widely published, all accounts show him as a humble and well-tempered man who cared about the souls to whom he ministered. For more on the life and pastoral ministry of Tim Keller see Collin Hansen, Timothy Keller: His Spiritual and Intellectual Formation (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2023). Another example is Eugene Peterson, well-known author of The Message and numerous books on Christian living, who produced his works with his local congregation in mind. Notoriety was not his goal but was a by-product of his faithfulness to ministry. For more on his pastoral ministry see Eugene H. Peterson, The Pastor: A Memoir (New York: HarperOne, 2012) and Will Collier, A Burning in My Bones: The Authorized Biography of Eugene H. Peterson (Colorado Springs: Waterbrook, 2022).
- This phrase is taken from Gregory the Great: “No one presumes to teach an art that he has not first mastered through study. How foolish it is therefore for the inexperienced to assume pastoral authority when the care of souls is the art of arts.” St. Gregory the Great, The Book of Pastoral Rule, trans. George E. Demacopoulos, Popular Patristics Series 34 (Crestwood, NY: St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 2007), pt. 1, sec. 1. Similarly, Gregory of Nazianzus called soul care the “art of arts and science of sciences.” Gregory of Nazianzus, Oration 2, in Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series, trans. Charles Gordon Browne and James Edward Swallow (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 1994), 7:208.
This article is adapted from Ancient Wisdom for the Care of Souls: Learning the Art of Pastoral Ministry from the Church Fathers by Coleman M. Ford and Shawn J. Wilhite.
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