If you meet George Herbert on the road, kill him: Radically Re-Thinking Priestly Ministry
Ebook
Priestly ministry in the Church of England needs a radical rethink...
George Herbert died in 1633. His legacy continues. His poems are read and sung, and his parish ministry remains the model for the Church of England's understanding of how and where and why its priests should minister. But there is a problem. The memory of Herbert celebrated by the Church is an inaccurate one, and, in its inaccuracy, is unfair on Herbert himself and his successors in the ordained ministry.
This is a book of the long view. It sets out to assess realistically the context of Herbert's life and to explore the difficulties of parish life today. By examining the status and role of parish clergy since Herbert's time and today, it draws on the work of historians, social anthropologists, psychologists and theologians, and presents their ideas in a readable and passionate style. It argues that the future strength of parochial ministry will be found in a recovery of historic, renewed understandings of priestly ministry, and concludes by outlining more sustainable patterns of practice for the future.
In a climate of uncertainty for the future of the church, it will be an encouragement for priest and people, and welcomed by both.
At a time of uncertainty for the Church, this robust challenge to an outmoded style of ministry offers realistic encouragement for the future.
Outlines a sustainable new pattern which gives hope for the future.
Offers radical, fresh approach to ministry, theologically sound and practically based.
Offers practical suggestions to ease the lives of stressed clergy who have to increasingly juggle additonal demands and decreased resources.
Part I: Death to Herbertism
1 Lin-Chi, the Curate and the Anglican Divine
2 "... how many live so unlike him now... "
3 "The only thing I don't run"
4 The Cult of Nice
5 "A little soft around the edges"
Part 2: Herbertism Habilitated
6 +ABC and the 3 Ws
7 Witness
8 Watchman
9 Weaver
Part 3: The 'KGH' Method
10 Know who you are: Rule
11 Know what you are: Role
12 Know who you are set over: Responsibility
13 Know how to make decisions: Reckoning
14 Know how to manage conflict: Reconciling
15 Afterword: Standing by Herbert's grave
Appendix: A Rule of Life, based upon the Four Pillars o the Dominican Constitution
Acknowledgements
Bibliography
...a well-informed account of Herbert in context...good to be reintroduced to the giants...full of good material...enjoys an attractive, opinionated style...has a gift for sharp anecdotes...presents a helpful range of authorities...
What kept me reading was the skilful way in which the author used the writings of such as Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Michael Ramsey, Vincent Donovan and others to make his case.
Justin Lewis-Anthony's If you meet George Herbert on the Road, Kill Him is the latest and, no mean feat, by far the best...Justin's excellent book does not play this how-to game, although it does end up talking Turkey...This book is a vastly intelligent, compassionate, understanding and helpful resource.
A very sympathetic [view] of Herbert's life and an appreciation of his verse. He also follows this with a a solid history of the clergy in the eighteenth, nineteenth and twentieth centuries
A witty, well-intentioned book. Behind its conclusions there are sophisticated analyses of any number of theological and sociological ideas
- Title: If you meet George Herbert on the road, kill him: Radically Re-Thinking Priestly Ministry
- Author: Justin Lewis-Anthony
- Publisher: Bloomsbury Continuum
- Print Publication Date: 2013
- Logos Release Date: 2024
- Language: English
- Resources: 1
- Format: Digital › Ebook
- ISBNs: 9780826424204, 9781906286170, 1906286175, 0826424201
- Resource ID: LLS:9780826424204
- Resource Type: Monograph
- Metadata Last Updated: 2024-05-12T05:54:21Z
Justin Lewis-Anthony is Rector of St Stephen's Church, Canterbury, and Associate Lecturer in the European Cultures and Languages Section of the University of Kent at Canterbury. Formerly Precentor of Christ Church, Oxford, he has lectured, and led retreats, on film, popular culture and theology, and pastoralia in Canterbury, Oxford, Salisbury, London, Exeter, Chelmsford, St Albans, St Deiniol's Library, and North America. He is the author of Circles of Thorns and If You Meet George Herbert on the Road, Kill Him (both published by Continuum).