Andrew Root - The Pastor in a Secular Age--Ministry to People Who No Longer Need a God

This book is a must read for anyone preparing for pastoral ministry or currently in ministry. Highly readable, it seeks to reclaim a pastoral identity that is rooted in the divine action of a ministering God. Building on the work of Charles Taylor, Root first lays out the historical evolution of the current hollowing out of pastoral identity through an excellent exploration of six pastors from Augustine to Rick Warren. Then, turning to Foucault, Jenson, and Old Testament texts, Root boldly asserts the identity of God as one who ministers to his people. Root encourages pastors to reclaim an identity based on their participation in Gods acts of ministry. It is in these very acts of ministry that a window is opened to the transcendent and ministering God in a secular age.

Annette Brownlee , Wycliffe College, University of Toronto

In a world longing for enchantment but too cynical to accept it, pastors can understandably feel irrelevant and confused. In The Pastor in a Secular Age , Andrew Root provides a helpful overview of how our world became so disenchanted and what it might look like to attend to God in a world that has forgotten how to do so. As a spiritual director, I continually encounter people who are longing to sacralize their lives and who desperately need help learning to find God in the events and emptiness of life. Root harks back to the holy event of Gods presence and asks us to consider the power of a ministry that can both sit in the silence of emptiness and point to the sacred in wonder.

Danielle Shroyer , spiritual director and author

Andrew Roots The Pastor in a Secular Age is an inspiring read and a wonderful resource for ministers and others who care about the role of the church and the vocation of ministry today. As institutional churches and denominations in the West continue a steady decline of social influence, ministers face a crisis of identity. This work situates and explains that feeling of crisis, and articulates a powerful vision for recapturing a sense of ministry as the conduit of Gods presence, of divine action, in the world. Drawing from his in-depth understanding of Charles Taylors philosophical insight, and utilizing case studies of pastors from history and the present, Root offers a compelling portrait of a fresh and invigorating way to approach the vocation of ministry. This is a timely and significant resource for churches, seminaries, and pastors, a vision for ministering in the immanent frame.

Kyle Roberts , United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities