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The Soul of Ministry: Forming Leaders for God's People
Ray Anderson offers an inspiring call for Christian leaders to view Jesus as a model for their own ministry today. The Soul of Ministry explores the idea of ministry across denominations and discovers its soul in God's love for the world. Designed for pastors of all denominations, this book combines social biblical theology with numerous real-life anecdotes from Anderson's teaching and ministry.
280 pages, Paperback
First published August 1, 1997
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34 people want to read
About the author
Ray S. Anderson
40 books3 followersaka Ray Sherman Anderson
Ray S. Anderson (Ph.D., University of Edinburgh) was senior professor of theology and ministry at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California, where he had taught since 1976. He was also a contributing editor to Journal of Psychology and Theology.
He wrote many books, including Judas and Jesus: Amazing Grace for the Wounded Soul (2004), The Soul of God: A Theological Memoir (2004), Spiritual Caregiving as Secular Sacrament: A Practical Theology for Professional Caregivers (2003), Dancing with Wolves While Feeding the Sheep (2002), The New Age of Soul: Spiritual Wisdom for a New Millennium (2001), The Shape of Practical Theology: Empowering Ministry with Theological Praxis (2001), Living the Spiritually Balanced Life (1998) and The Soul of Ministry: Forming Leaders for God's People (1997). Anderson's articles and book reviews have been published in a wide array of scholarly and popular periodicals.
Ray S. Anderson (Ph.D., University of Edinburgh) was senior professor of theology and ministry at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California, where he had taught since 1976. He was also a contributing editor to Journal of Psychology and Theology.
He wrote many books, including Judas and Jesus: Amazing Grace for the Wounded Soul (2004), The Soul of God: A Theological Memoir (2004), Spiritual Caregiving as Secular Sacrament: A Practical Theology for Professional Caregivers (2003), Dancing with Wolves While Feeding the Sheep (2002), The New Age of Soul: Spiritual Wisdom for a New Millennium (2001), The Shape of Practical Theology: Empowering Ministry with Theological Praxis (2001), Living the Spiritually Balanced Life (1998) and The Soul of Ministry: Forming Leaders for God's People (1997). Anderson's articles and book reviews have been published in a wide array of scholarly and popular periodicals.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
May 31, 2014
A great book overall. The theological underpinnings (his foundational comprehension of who God is) is as solid as it comes, with a continual reference to God's remarkable character. It forms the backbone of the book and never deviates.
He also introduces some theological concepts that seem a bit "new" and which I'm sure would spook many strong fundamentalists. But in so doing, he's maintaining an emphasis on God's continuing work in humanity and in Creation, a work that moves forward, through the power and leading of the Holy Spirit. He never leaves this "newness" entirely without guide, both in the Bible and in the Christian community, and so it's never unfounded as some might fear. But it does leave plenty of room for God to work and for him to bring about the New Creation which he's promised and which we're all longing for... a rich and strong emphasis that keeps us looking forward to God's redeeming work, not only backwards in human history.
The subtitle of this book says "forming leaders for God's people", but I felt like the final chapters of the book, the only ones which really seemed to deal with leadership, were more of an afterthought. To be sure, they didn't deviate from the foundation previously laid, but they definitely seemed to stand apart and weren't entirely necessary to the book. Nonetheless, even those chapters brought up some solid points that could help in considerations of what it means to lead a church or any group of Christians, with the character and vision of Jesus.
The only complaint I have about this book is that his personable and easy-to-read anecdotes were all too often interspersed with overly academic or even overly-cited language and diagrams. It made the book quite a bit too dry at times, but never for more than a few pages in a row. All in all, it's recommended to anyone who wants to consider some foundational ideas for God's gracious interactions with humanity and how that should color our interactions with each other. A great book!
He also introduces some theological concepts that seem a bit "new" and which I'm sure would spook many strong fundamentalists. But in so doing, he's maintaining an emphasis on God's continuing work in humanity and in Creation, a work that moves forward, through the power and leading of the Holy Spirit. He never leaves this "newness" entirely without guide, both in the Bible and in the Christian community, and so it's never unfounded as some might fear. But it does leave plenty of room for God to work and for him to bring about the New Creation which he's promised and which we're all longing for... a rich and strong emphasis that keeps us looking forward to God's redeeming work, not only backwards in human history.
The subtitle of this book says "forming leaders for God's people", but I felt like the final chapters of the book, the only ones which really seemed to deal with leadership, were more of an afterthought. To be sure, they didn't deviate from the foundation previously laid, but they definitely seemed to stand apart and weren't entirely necessary to the book. Nonetheless, even those chapters brought up some solid points that could help in considerations of what it means to lead a church or any group of Christians, with the character and vision of Jesus.
The only complaint I have about this book is that his personable and easy-to-read anecdotes were all too often interspersed with overly academic or even overly-cited language and diagrams. It made the book quite a bit too dry at times, but never for more than a few pages in a row. All in all, it's recommended to anyone who wants to consider some foundational ideas for God's gracious interactions with humanity and how that should color our interactions with each other. A great book!
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January 23, 2011will be going back to this book over and over again, much truth and wisdom
October 24, 2015
A book for leadership class. I took a lot of notes from it on empowerment of others, ministry as theological discernment, and Jesus as a model for servant leadership.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews