Hughes R. Kent - The pastors book: a comprehensive and practical guide to pastoral ministry

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Everyday Latin phrases spring to mind to describe The Pastors Book. It is a magnum opusa major work for all ministers, incorporating one and a half lifetimes of gathered pastoral resources. It will be a vade mecumthe go-to book and faithful companion for younger ministers, to guide, inform, and sometimes correct and restrain. It should prove to be a sine qua non for all who are engaged in gospel ministry over the long haulthe very book needed to help recalibrate and refresh. These pages constitute a love gift to their fellow undershepherds from Kent Hughes and Douglas Sean ODonnell. They have put all who love Christs church in their lasting debt.

Sinclair B. Ferguson, Professor of Systematic Theology, Redeemer Seminary, Dallas, Texas

This is an immensely helpful, Scripture-saturated resource for busy pastors, explaining the practical how tos of leading weddings, funerals, baptisms, the Lords Supper, personal counseling, and weekly worship services. It reflects the accumulated wisdom of decades of ministry, and it comes from the pen of a godly, wise senior pastor for whom I have the highest appreciation and respect.

Wayne Grudem, Research Professor of Theology and Biblical Studies, Phoenix Seminary

The Pastors Book should be on the shelf of every young preacher heading out into gospel ministry. It is a resource volumemeant to guide you into good practice and provide you with language for a variety of pastoral settings. Its success comes from the authors mutual hallmark of disciplined and careful preparation. With this book, they have been kind enough to do some of the heavy lifting for us as well!

David R. Helm, Pastor, Holy Trinity Church, Chicago; Chairman, The Charles Simeon Trust

This is an invaluable resource for every pastor or church leader, at whatever stage of life and ministry. Full of biblical and theological insights, practical applications, and excellent examples, it will become an essential companion and guide for a multitude of ministry opportunities and challenges.

David Jackman, Former President, Proclamation Trust, London, United Kingdom

Veteran pastors Kent Hughes and Douglas ODonnell have given to us a wonderful, biblically anchored, gospel-centered resource. This is an invaluable, go-to treasure for busy pastors. From invocations to benedictions and from weddings to funerals, this volume is a very helpful guide in confidently exercising our duties as ministers of the gospel. What a gift!

Crawford W. Loritts Jr., Senior Pastor, Fellowship Bible Church, Roswell, Georgia; author, A Passionate Commitment

I wish I had had this book when I began my ministry as a pastor! It pulls back the curtain to show us what we need to know about our calling and the expectations of our people. It gives a breadth and context to pastoral responsibilities Ive not seen in other similar books.

Erwin W. Lutzer, Senior Pastor, The Moody Church, Chicago, Illinois

The Pastors Book is a remarkable resource, forged over four decades of Hughess pastoral experience. It is historically informed, biblically grounded, thoroughly Christ-centered, and eminently practical. This is a book that the new pastor and the veteran minister alike will return to again and again as they press through the crucible of pastoral ministry.

Aaron Messner, Senior Minister, Westminster Presbyterian Church, Atlanta, Georgia

Pastors must be prepared for almost any imaginable situation. From weekly sermons and counseling to hospital visitations and funerals, the pastoral tasks vary from day to day, even from hour to hour. Kent Hughes provides the type of theologically rich handbook every minister needs on his shelf. Hughes is a sagacious guide to the many facets of pastoral ministry, and his program for ministry is deeply rooted in Scripture. I am confident that pastors will be greatly served by this book and better equipped for faithful ministry in every avenue of life.

R. Albert Mohler Jr., President, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary

I can only imagine the benefits I would have received if I had been given this book on my ordination day. I not only look forward to having my own copy, but also to securing copies for the young men I have the privilege of mentoring for the gospel ministry. The Pastors Book is a well-written and comprehensive compendium on pastoral ministry. Get it and use it, and may our Lords church again be blessed by ministers called of God who give themselves to the ministry of prayer and the Word.

Harry L. Reeder III, Senior Pastor, Briarwood Presbyterian Church, Birmingham, Alabama

Whether you are a newly minted pastor or a veteran, you will find this all-in-one resource for pastoral ministry a very helpful book. This book will actually remind pastors there are many wonderful resources to draw upon, all of which equip us to biblically minister in the various roles and contexts we find ourselves pastoring within.

Jay Thomas, Lead Pastor, Chapel Hill Bible Church, Chapel Hill, North Carolina

Veteran pastor and author Kent Hughes has written what will surely prove to be one of the most widely used and useful guides to pastoral ministry available to young pastors. As I read through this volume, I was struck over and over again by the practical wisdom, measured assessment, and confident admonition that could come only from one who has pastoredand pastored thoughtfully and wellfor many years. The benefit this book will be for pastors and their churches is incalculable. What a gift this is.

Bruce A. Ware, Professor of Christian Theology, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary

The
PASTORS
BOOK

A COMPREHENSIVE AND PRACTICAL
GUIDE TO PASTORAL MINISTRY

R. KENT HUGHES

DOUGLAS SEAN ODONNELL

Contributing Editor

The Pastors Book: A Comprehensive and Practical Guide to Pastoral Ministry

Copyright 2015 by Crossway

Published by Crossway
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Wheaton, Illinois 60187

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher, except as provided for by USA copyright law.

Cover design: Studio Gearbox

First printing, 2015

Printed in China

Unless otherwise indicated, scripture quotations are from the ESV Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version), copyright 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked AT are the authors translation.

Scripture quotations marked KJV are from the King James Version of the Bible.

Scripture quotations marked NASB are from The New American Standard Bible. Copyright The Lockman Foundation 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995. Used by permission.