Varieties of Gifts Multiplicity and the Well-Lived Pastoral Life [Hardcover]

[W]e need Cynthia Lindners study of 21st-century pastors, which demonstrates the value of pastors drawing from multiple internal energy sources in order to exercise their gifts in multiple forms. Lindner...examines the stories of pastors serving mainline congregations, many of which are now small but not long ago were bursting at the seams. Lindner draws on the tradition of autobiography as theological narrative from Augustine to Dorothy Day, the psychological category of multiplicity with roots in Eakins How Our Lives Become Stories, and the work of several other contemporary psychologists. But she doesnt dwell on theory and moves quickly to the best part of the book, the stories themselves. Her storytellers female and male, gay and straight, old and young, African American and Caucasiantalk straightforwardly about the challenges of contemporary ministry and the need for multiple strategies. . . .These thousand eyes represent the multiplicity that is necessary to the pastoral life. They also remind us that in ministry we are never alone&.Varieties of Gifts testifies that God is not done with the church.If you are a pastor, or a pastor in training, or are a voyeur and interested in how pastors think, feel, and act from Monday through Saturday then Varieties of Gifts: Multiplicity and the Well-Lived Pastoral Life is for you. Varieties of Gifts will certainly help you ponder the various identities and roles that pastors exhibit in their life. I know I did. Most of the books that I review are quick reads, but not this one. I kept stopping over and over again pondering the numerous vignettes and stories which Dr. Lindner includes. These stories were not just filler to keep the narrative moving forward, but are essential components for the book and which made me think of my own multiple identities that I carry around with me. . . . If you want to give one book to your parish priest or pastor, I encourage you to get a copy of Varieties of Gifts for them, theyll lovel3L