Presbyterians have high expectations for their pastors, and Peterson was certainly one of the best. I had read many of his books before, and my own mentor in Coral Gables FL gave me one of Peterson’s books. It began to form my own pastoral practices. Peterson became a mentor himself for many pastors. But his own standards remain impossibly high for me. I’ll never live long enough to gain the mastery over ancient languages, or the wisdom of 29 years in pastoral practice!
A report produced by the Presbyterian Church (USA) sums up a congregation’s expectations of their pastor: “The Bible describes a variety of forms of ministry leadership. Evangelists served a critical role as the early Christian church began to organize. In the Middle Ages, the pastor as mediator of sacramental grace became primary. The sixteenth and seventeenth century Protestant Reformation’s principles of sola scriptura and the priesthood of all believers, among other things, elicited the pastor as preacher and pastor as ethical guide models. Around 1900 and with growing literacy new images and metaphors for pastoral ministry began to emerge, especially after the First World War. In no uniform order or pure forms, pastoral ministry models of professional educator, psychologist/counselor, agent of social change, and manager of the church surfaced as ideals. Recent research shows many congregants expect their pastor to master each of these models; to be an expert in each of these roles.”
YIKES! Who could live up to all of this? Dr. Peterson, I love your book, but you’ve made life difficult for all us ordinary pastors.
