Diary of a Pastor's Soul • M. Craig Barnes
amazon.co.uk/Diary-Pastors-Soul-Moments-Ministry-ebook/dp/B0821PCX5B/
🧵 of highlights
"The old Pietists used to write... about gravitas. It was their description of a soul that had gained enough weightiness to be attractive, like all things with a gravitational pull. Most people can immediately think about someone in their lives who has this gravitas."
"Most of ministry is just doing small things as faithfully as possible."
"There was a generation that believed in institutions and their buildings. Sturdy things you can count on. Everything they know about Jesus and his grace for us is lingering in the mortar that holds the stones of the church together."
"He was always clear on his calling and wanted only to serve a local congregation - preferably a small one."
"His only ambition is to be the next in a long line of faithfully anonymous pastors who never move on to prestigious positions."
"The irony is that pastors are surrounded by more people than anyone in the congregation, know a whole lot more about their people than anyone else, and the members may know more about the pastor’s life than they do each other’s lives, but the pastor is always the pastor."
"It’s far more helpful to think of myself as a sheepdog that nudges sheep toward the only Saviour of the flock."
"Our delight has to come from helping others gather around the Good Shepherd."
"No child wants a father who is too busy being a reliable provider that he doesn’t have time to be a reliable dad."
"There is no one style of pastoral care that fits all people in any particular dilemma. I really have to know my parishioners and honour the way God uniquely wired them."
"I try to visit our parishioners in the local nursing home on a regular basis. If the church schedule gets demanding these visits are often the first thing to be postponed."
"The problem with popular songs isn’t the lyrics but its lack of gravitas. On deathbed people need to lean on something more sturdy."
"We’re supposed to get people to stop being so distracted by their anxieties, fleeting pleasures, deep regrets, loneliness, and frantic efforts to save themselves through more hard work in order to spend one hour beholding."
"The worship service was designed to wipe the smudges off your spectacles so you could behold."