Reviewed by Victor Elliott, attorney, Risk Management Services, General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, Silver Spring, Maryland.

Has the Episcopal Church's search for a better way to deploy its clergy been the answer to everyone's prayers? In 1969 the church replaced the ''old buddy network'' method of negotiating a new pastorate with the Clergy Deployment Board and its computer clergy data bank.

The authors, after retirement from parish ministry, took a two-year trek around the United States, armed with a tape recorder and a word processor. They came back with a 220-page book full of stories about the process of calling a pastor from one parish to another. Chapters tell about "the winners," "the losers," and "the search committees."

This book sensitized me to the clergy search dilemma as perceived by 200 clergy and 50 members of search committees interviewed by the authors. The concluding chapter distills information learned in the interviews. The authors use this information to make suggestions for refining the process of clergy search. The feelings that come across in these interviews should motivate improvements in the Episcopal Church's impressive machination of the search process so as not to clutter up the call of the Holy Spirit. As summed up in the book's final line, "the task that lies before the church is to provide, in deployment, an atmosphere in which the call to a parish can be clearly perceived as an authentic call from God."

The short stories told from the perspective of both pastors in the process of being called and the laypeople on local search committees make this book interesting and valuable to all churches. These vignettes caused me to reflect on how I am dealing with pastoral change in my own church. My pastor has taken a call to Texas, and I am part of the search committee. This book adds a whole new perspective to my thinking.


Ministry reserves the right to approve, disapprove, and delete comments at our discretion and will not be able to respond to inquiries about these comments. Please ensure that your words are respectful, courteous, and relevant.

comments powered by Disqus
Reviewed by Victor Elliott, attorney, Risk Management Services, General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, Silver Spring, Maryland.

November 1991

Download PDF
Ministry Cover

More Articles In This Issue

Is the Bible our final authority?

What is the meaning of inspiration for today? What is the normative value of Scripture?

The wrath of God

Can a God of love be also a God of wrath? What does the Bible say?

Justification and conversion revisited

The ideas expressed in this feature are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the position of the Seventh-day Adventist Church or the opinions of the Ministry staff.

Myths and the ministerial family

What are the myths that surround the ministerial family? And how do they affect the spiritual growth of the pastor's kids?

Pastor's Pastor: Should you try topical preaching?

Pastor's Pastor: Should you try topical preaching?

Suggestions for effective topical Preaching.

Recently noted

Books to take note of.

View All Issue Contents

Digital delivery

If you're a print subscriber, we'll complement your print copy of Ministry with an electronic version.

Sign up
Advertisement - SermonView - Medium Rect (300x250)

Recent issues

See All
Advertisement - SermonView - WideSkyscraper (160x600)