Rowman & Littlefield Publishers / Alban Books
Pages: 194
Trim: 5¾ x 8½
978-1-56699-411-8 • Paperback • March 2011 • $31.00 • (£25.00)
978-1-56699-473-6 • eBook • March 2011 • $29.50 • (£25.00)
Barbara J. Blodgett is Minister for Vocation and Formation for the United Church of Christ in Cleveland, Ohio. She was previously the director of Supervised Ministries at Yale Divinity School in New Haven, Connecticut. A former pastor ordained in the UCC, she is also an ethicist who speaks and writes on moral issues in the ministry. She is author of Lives Entrusted: An Ethic of Trust for Ministry and Constructing the Erotic: Sexual Ethics and Adolescent Girls.
This book makes us better ministers as we move from our desire for praise to an appreciation of feedback and move beyond the Lone Ranger syndrome to greater trust in our mentors and peers. Barbara Blodgett helps us to be more effective in our jobs and more faithful in our vocation.
— David Bartlett, Professor of New Testament, Columbia Theological Seminary
The heart of this book is on improving and relying on others to help you become the pastor you want to be. In describing ways to do this, Blodgett explores carefully and compellingly the company of mentors, the theory and practice of peer groups, and leadership in public ministry.
— Robert E. Reber, Interm President, Bexley Hall Seminary
Grounded in long and rich experience, Becoming the Pastor You Hope to Be looks forward to a church and to leadership styles needed for the future. Blodgett challenges some conventional wisdom and sloppy thinking that needs to be challenged. And she gives reality-tested practical advice on key practices for pastors who seek to be excellent in their vocation. Besides all that she writes well.
— Anthony B. Robinson, Changing the Conversation: A Third Way for Congregations and What's Theology Got to Do with It: Convictions, Vitality, and the Church