The Wounded Pastor: A Healing Strategy for Unjustifiable Termination and Forced Resignation

by Matthew Tanner

The calling to shepherd the church is one that involves some of the greatest adventures and joys one can experience. Yet, it is a call that also comes with many pitfalls and battles every pastor must be ready to face. The Wounded Pastor explores one such battle that nearly every pastor will face at least once in their ministry. This hidden danger and impending battle looming in the Evangelical world is the unjustified termination, or forced resignation, of pastors from a church. The Wounded Pastor will explore stories of those who have journeyed such a path, define the scope of the problem in Evangelical churches today, explore Biblical examples, and put forth a strategy that will enable pastors to fulfill their Biblical calling by successfully entering back into vocational ministry, better equipped for the next assignment. With God's help and a bit of hard work the wounded pastor can experience healing and vibrant ministry again.

176 pages, Paperback

Published January 16, 2023

Reviews

[Wood Marshall · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a great help for pastors who have been hurt by a church. It's also good for pastors like me who have been hurt yet not fired or let go. It's also good for pastor who have not been hurt or fired. Why you might ask? Because this book helps you heal and prepares you for the battle ahead. Let's face it ministry is hard and painful. As chief Shepherd Jesus was betrayed by the ones He loved we must understand that we as undershepeards will be to. This book helps heal those wounds and gets you ready to heal future wounds. Matthew even lays out how to help pastors find healing. He shows you are not alone in your hurt and you are not the only one facing these hardship. This book is a great read and must have for a pastor tool bok. Take hurt pastor or layleader Jesus understand and He is walking with you in your pain.

[Caitlin Neace · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you are a believer I highly recommend you read this work! While the existence of such a book is a sober reminder that the church is just as broken as our fallen world and how believers are capable of inflicting such malicious evil, within its pages the reader will find reassurance that they are not alone, a path to move forward, and hope for a future. I cannot recommend this book enough and hope that other resources like it will become available. As outlined in the book, this tragic phenomenon is on the rise and nearly every pastor will face this at least once in their ministry. The wounded pastor needs to know that they are not alone and that others have come through to the other side after their ministry and lives have been shattered and are able to successfully reenter ministry.