Scan barcode
A review by sonofwilliam_reads
The Care of Souls: Cultivating a Pastor's Heart by Harold L. Senkbeil
4.0
2021 reads: 03/52
Rating: 4 stars
Publisher: Lexham Press
Harold Senkbeil has written a refreshing, poetic and vivid proposal for pastoral ministry. The book pushes up against the flow of commercial culture and methods of pragmatism that abound in the church today. The main burden of Senbeil is that pastors ought to develop a pastoral ‘habitus’—a way of being that cares for souls through the word and sacraments. Senkbeil is an avid Lutheran which brought some novelty to the book (speaking as a baptist). His proposal is realistic and hopeful, never excusing the warts and pains of ministry but ever directing the pastors efforts to Christ’s presence in word and sacrament. Some sections were pure gold; Senkbeil’s 50 years of ministry shines through in many ways. The book’s argument is also couched in agricultural imagery which gives it an earthy and fresh telling. I so appreciated the lessons about waiting, patience, navigating relationships and Senkbeil’s willingness to know the limits of the pastoral vocation.
Readers outside the Lutheran tradition will find his emphasis on sacrament and absolution a little jarring, but I was helped by it and it certainly gave me much to think through. Besides this (and the somewhat difficult layout of very short sections under new headings) this is a book on the ministry every one should read. Senkbeil’s contemplative, deeply scriptural and ancient approach to caring for souls is much needed in today’s modern landscape.
Rating: 4 stars
Publisher: Lexham Press
Harold Senkbeil has written a refreshing, poetic and vivid proposal for pastoral ministry. The book pushes up against the flow of commercial culture and methods of pragmatism that abound in the church today. The main burden of Senbeil is that pastors ought to develop a pastoral ‘habitus’—a way of being that cares for souls through the word and sacraments. Senkbeil is an avid Lutheran which brought some novelty to the book (speaking as a baptist). His proposal is realistic and hopeful, never excusing the warts and pains of ministry but ever directing the pastors efforts to Christ’s presence in word and sacrament. Some sections were pure gold; Senkbeil’s 50 years of ministry shines through in many ways. The book’s argument is also couched in agricultural imagery which gives it an earthy and fresh telling. I so appreciated the lessons about waiting, patience, navigating relationships and Senkbeil’s willingness to know the limits of the pastoral vocation.
Readers outside the Lutheran tradition will find his emphasis on sacrament and absolution a little jarring, but I was helped by it and it certainly gave me much to think through. Besides this (and the somewhat difficult layout of very short sections under new headings) this is a book on the ministry every one should read. Senkbeil’s contemplative, deeply scriptural and ancient approach to caring for souls is much needed in today’s modern landscape.