Rowman & Littlefield Publishers / Alban Books
Pages: 227
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Trim: 6 x 9
978-1-56699-415-6 • Paperback • June 2011 • $32.00 • (£25.00)
978-1-56699-674-7 • eBook • June 2011 • $30.00 • (£25.00)
Malcolm L. Warford is an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ. He has been a pastor in Vermont, New York, and Kentucky; a member of the faculties of St. Louis University, Union Theological Seminary in New York, and Lexington Theological Seminary; and president of Eden Theological Seminary and Bangor Theological Seminary. From 1998 to 2009, he created and led The Lexington Seminar: Theological Teaching for the Church's Ministries, a Lilly Endowment-supported project for seminary and university divinity school faculties.
What is the actual, observable, impact of a seminary education? There are gems of seasoned insight here in a tapestry of narratives and reflections tracing the 30-year careers of eight seminary-students-become-ministers. Warford provides an unprecedented perspective on the real outcomes of theological curriculum.
— Theodore Brelsford, Director of Assessment, Candler School of Theology; pastor, Orchard Park Community Church; and coeditor, "Contextualizing Theological Education"
Eight ministers offer us a rare glimpse into the story of their lives from the outset of their seminary education, through early ministry experiences, and the deepening of their vocation into well-seasoned practitioners. Mac Warford persistently tracked their stories, recorded first-hand accounts, sets the cultural and religious stage, and deftly interprets 30 years of their experiences. Such stories, revealed honestly and with great integrity, are indispensable for those seeking to understand how ministers are shaped and formed over time.
— Kathleen A. Cahalan, professor, Saint John’s University School of Theology Seminary; author, "Introducing the Practice of Ministry"
As a Progressive Seminary survivor I was thrilled by The Spirit’s Tether. Malcolm Warford composed the first credible description of my life in ministry from seminary onward. No one before him has written of the refiner’s fire that burned away my tranquil faith, or chronicled the death of cheap grace.
— Hollis G. D. Dodge, Pastor, St. Michael's United Church of Christ, Bridgewater, Virginia
These remarkable stories provide the clarifying and challenging markers needed for those beginning or continuing the vocational journey of ordained ministry. The more we know about these eight, the more we discover about ourselves. We are reminded that a good theological education prepares people for the lifelong learning that occurs in the practice of ministry.
— William B. Kincaid, Herald B. Monroe Professor of Leadership and Ministry Studies, Christian Theological Seminary
As a parish pastor, I commend Warford’s examination of the journeys of these eight pastors. He insightfully draws out the tensions in which all pastors live: theological and psychological, social and personal, spiritual and ordinary, and offers hope for faithful vocation, nourished by trust in the God who calls.
— Mary Barber Reed, Pastor, The Presbyterian Church, Dover, DE
Only a wise theological educator, himself a minister of the Word, could gather and shape such poignant, respectful profiles of seminarians who entered Union’s crucible in the 1970’s and three decades later continue to nourish life in the crucible of congregational ministry.
— Christa R. Klein, President, In Trust, the Association of Boards in Theological Education
This window into the lives and experiences of eight Christian ministers over a period of thirty years is a masterful contribution to our understanding of the links between individuals, congregations, and theological institutions. Insights for revitalizing Christian ministry are rooted in actual lives. An indispensable resource.
— Tite Tiénou, Dean, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, Deerfield, Illinois
Warford gives us marvelous insights that can help guide theological education, the church, and ministerial formation in the years to come. This book models the gift of looking backward in order to look forward to help craft a better future for generations to come in ministry.
— Emilie M. Townes, Vanderbilt University
Narratives weave a beautiful, rough tapestry of pastors’ lives wafted across decades of turbulent landscapes of American Christianity. The Spirit’s Tether is insightful…moving…even affirming for pastors, teachers, and others recollecting life, calling, and meaning.
— Raymond Williams, LaFollette Distinguished Professor in the Humanities emeritus, Wabash College