THE UNHURRIED PASTOR:
Redefining Productivity for a More
Sustainable Ministry
By Brian Croft and Ronnie Martin
Good Book Company. 176 pages. £9.99
ISBN 978 1 784 989 576
Arrgh! Not another book about church leadership. Yes, but not just any old book. I often come across books I wish I’d read; this is a book I wish I’d written! Healthy leaders; healthy churches!
Having served as busy, bruised and burnt-out pastors, Brian Croft and Ronnie Martin are now both involved in leadership renewal. The Unhurried Pastor is the distillation of their years of wisdom and experience. As Croft says in the introduction: ‘[It] is not a call to redefine the work of a pastor’ but ‘to redefine how this work is accomplished’. This begins with embracing our humanity, pursuing humility and remembering the hope we have in Christ.
Much of the book covers familiar ground in emphasising ‘being’ over ‘doing’. However, I was particularly struck by the chapters on:
• silence: ‘Silence is a wonderful gift from God … Embrace [it] as a peaceful healing balm for your noisy, restless and hurried soul’;
• emotions: ‘Pastors don’t need to be perfect or have it all together. They simply need Jesus – and to know they need Jesus just as badly as everyone else’; and
• friendship: ‘Pastoral friendship is an oft-forgotten piece of a persevering ministry, and it is only a contemplative, humble, unhurried pastor who will … take the time to invest in it.’
The book concludes with some helpful tips in constructing a daily spiritual health plan.
Who should read this book? The answers include:
• pastors who are too busy to read it (slowly);
• elders who want to bring the best out of their pastors for the long haul; and
• church members who want to understand their pastors better and love them more.
For all my (real) enthusiasm for The Unhurried Pastor, Messrs Croft and Martin are pushing at an open door. The current generation of leaders is increasingly aware of their limitations and the need for boundaries. How long will it be, I wonder, before the pendulum swings and I find myself reviewing the latest edition of The Gospel-Driven Pastor ?
