Calling and Character: Virtues of the Ordained Life

by William H. Willimon

In Calling & Character, Willimon lays out a clear and compelling picture of the pastoral life, one that will inform both those embarking on ordained ministry and those who have been in it for many years. He lays out specific habits such as study, collegiality, and humor as the day-by-day means of following the difficult and dangerous, yet deeply rewarding, calling of a pastor.

Genres: Leadership, Religion

184 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 1, 2000

About the author

The Reverend Dr. William H. Willimon is Professor of the Practice of Christian Ministry at the Divinity School, Duke University. He served eight years as Bishop of the North Alabama Conference of The United Methodist Church, where he led the 157,000 Methodists and 792 pastors in North Alabama. For twenty years prior to the episcopacy, he was Dean of the Chapel and Professor of Christian Ministry at Duke University, Durham, North Carolina.

Reviews

[Brian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ethics. This is a book that is all about the ethics of a pastor. Being a healthy pastor is key to leading a healthy church. Being in the fishbowl is part of what it means to be a pastor. People watch your life. Servant is the most common word used in the Bible for leader. We are servants.

[Ryan Linkous · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Calling and Character" focuses on the vocation of pastoral minister and seeks to discover the virtues and ethics of pastoral ministry. It reads like Eugene Peterson's "The Contemplative Pastor" blended together with Dietrich Bonhoeffer's "Life Together." It's artful, convicting, and encouraging. Lest, you be dissuaded by the artlessness of my chapter summaries below, I would encourage people to read this book. It'd be tough to choose between this and "The Contemplative Pastor" by Eugene Peterson. "Calling and Character" was definitely more classically and ecclesially focused, but Peterson is perhaps a bit more artfully written (but "Calling and Character" is still very well written). I would encourage people like me are in Reformed circles or who frequent The Gospel Coalition, to read this instead of Paul Tripp's "Dangerous Calling." I look forward to revisiting this book in the future!

-Ch. 1, Willimon discusses the need for pastors to take their calling/vocation seriously. The pastoral call is lofty and dangerous (i.e. John Chrysostom [+ Gregory of Nazianzus and Gregory the Great]) and should not be entered into lightly. This calling means that pastors will not be able to participate in the world to the same degree as everyone else.
-Ch. 2, Willimon discusses virtue ethics for pastoral ministry. Utilizing Aristotle, he considers the teleology for pastors. Pastors will face unique temptations, but they must place their faith in God and in his Word. They should not place their hope in people's kindness or accepting of them. The patterns of pastoral ministry cultivate a unique set of virtues. Following Richard Hays "Moral Vision of the New Testament," he explains his rationale to view pastoral ministry/virtues through the lenses of 1) community, 2) cross, and 3) new creation. These serve as the topics for the rest of the chapters.
-Ch. 3, Willimon discusses the "Pastor in Community." He explains that the NT ethics are meant to be ethics for a community – the church. They don't make sense detached from community [I believe they do make sense for individuals, but I agree the Bible's exhortations are addressed first the communal body of the church]. He teaches that pastoral secrecy may be a hindrance to the work of the gospel in our churches (he's not for recklessly divulging everything, but is honest about the limitations of absolute confidentiality). Looking at Malachi 1 & 2, he notes that pastors will be held accountable to God for their fulfilling of their teaching duties. They must participate with a community of pastors for encouragement and accountability. He notes that clergy must discipline one another and be honest whenever sinfulness (no limited to simply financial or sexual impropriety) rules out future ministry for someone. Pastors should seek input from other pastors about their fulfillment of their pastoral duties and seeking help for their churches. Loving the church may also mean criticizing the church at times. They must also be willing to participate in the community of their church.
Ch. 4 - "The Cross-bearing clergy." In a Henri Nouwen-esque way, he entreats pastors to seek downward mobility for the sake of serving their churches. We should also seek to be bound by a rule of ethics rather than autonomous freedom. He calls for sacrifice and warns against the vice of acedia (laziness). He states that altruism will not sustain one in ministry – only a call from God and the gospel of Jesus will. Thus, he exhorts pastors to "constancy" or endurance in pastoral ministry. We should forsake our own glory for the glory of Christ on the cross.
Ch. 5 - "New Creation." Focusing on Easter, we can have hope in our ministries. Pastors should use humor as means of grace and even repentance in their ministries (especially of a self-deprecating sort). This will help us understand our limitations. Also, despite the rigors of pastoral life, pastors should not despair when their ministry gets tough, but should hold fast to God. Pastors should trust God in their Sabbath rest. This helps them act out and realize that God is upholding the church, not the pastor.

[Mike Reno · Rating 5 out of 5]

Healing

I am in seminary; returning to school as I near sixty years of age, and much of the liberalism of the current academic environment has been hurting my soul. I had not realized how much so until I read this book for my next class, and then I realized I had truly been injured. Not purposefully harmed, but in this book I came to understand how it could be that such a thing occurred in a place that tries to teach men and women to be pastors.

[Rivkah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought it was an excellent read on ethics as well as wisdom for those called to ministry. I think that it can easily be adapted to the life of anyone in ministry with some very sound advice on how to continue working in ministry for the long term.

A point I did not agree with was Willimon's impression that ministers need to not have personal life as part of the ministry community or have aires/lives above/different from that. I do not agree at all. I think that actually sets up a minister to be out of tune with his ministry and lacks the human persona that people need to see on their own walks. How it really is okay to not be perfect! Some of my best moments are when my minister admits to a fault of his own, and my heart just thinks, "What?! I thought I was the only one?! So there is hope for me?!"

[Tyler Collins · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read about 60% of this book for my Core Relationships in Christian Ministry course under Dr. Doug Hardy, Dr. Dana Preusch, and Dr. Jeren Rowell at Nazarene Theological Seminary. This was a very helpful reflection on the office of the ordained minister and what it means to have been called and consecrated into this role by the church. It is theological and practical. I would like to pick it back up and finish it in the future!

[hector · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s a good book

It has good comments regarding the pastoral rol. Although, I have a different position on who can be a pastor. I don’t agree that women can be pastors but besides this theological disagreement I think was a good reading

[Catherine McNiel · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted to love this book because so much of it was so wonderful. But it suffered from an overabundance of quotes and research from men within one stream of thought and a lack of diversity, especially the voices of women.

[Ken Montgomery · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent book reflecting on what a minister ought to be, from probably my favorite Methodist writer!

[Sandra · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an incredible book that I recommend to any ordained minister. I read it a few years ago, and just happened to pick it up and look at some of the sections I underlined. Of course, now I would like to read it again, but the quotes themselves are very, very good:

". . . when we take upon ourselves his yoke of obedience, his yoke is easy, his burden is light (Matt. 11:28-30). When is a burden light? It is when we find our burdensome lives caught up, elevated, borne aloft by something greater than our lives. Mission gives meaning. Jesus does not come to us to relieve us of all yokes or burdens; rather, he comes offering us a yoke worth wearing, a burden worth bearing. It is a great gift not to have to make your life mean something, to have your life given significance by the Lord whose cross, when taken up, takes us up as well." 119-120

and this:

"It takes great faith in Easter, particularly faith in the gift of the Holy Spirit, to be honest with our people that we have not a clue to the meaning of some biblical passage, or that we have no sense of a satisfying ending for a sermon, or that we are unsure of precisely what the congregation ought to do after hearing a given text. The most ethically dangerous time within a sermon is toward the end of the sermon, when we move from proclamation to application and act as if we know more than God." 133

[Danny Yang · Rating 3 out of 5]

"There is thus something inherent in the practice of ministry that keeps Christian ministry predisposed toward expectation of miracle, surprise, and change. Easter ought to make us more persistent, more willing to engage in recklessness derived from our anticipation of the future. Lacking the empowerment provided by the resurrection, we are always in danger of falling back upon common sense, what is 'realistic' or 'responsible.' Easter people ought to be more foolish than that."

[Sharon McQueary · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read for Vocational Excellence class. 164 pages #read20k16