The Heart of the Matter: Pastoral Ministry in Anabaptist Perspective
Erick Sawatzky, editor. Herald Press: Scottdale, 2004. |
This book is a collection of 17 academic essays by the faculty of Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary (AMBS) in Elkhart, Indiana, collected and edited by professor emeritus of pastoral ministry, Erick Sawatzky. The essays are arranged in biblical study conference format, beginning with a statement of the issue, historical overviews, biblical word and topical studies, applications and finally a summary.
Essay collections are difficult to evaluate but for most MB readers this collection poses an additional challenge: it is an AMBS dialogue arising from the shifting leadership structures of the Mennonite Church (a large association of Mennonite congregations, many of which are in eastern Canada and the U.S.). In the last 40 years many of these churches experienced a “sudden and abrupt” shift from the “plural ministry of the bench” to the ministry of the solo pastor who was educated and sometimes “did it all.”
To complicate the matter further, those assigned to pastoral training at AMBS were exploring the counterculture implications of Anabaptism and questioning the very shift they were part of. All of this was taking place among churches that are generally more culturally conservative and yet whose seminary is more theologically liberal than our own. The problems are clearly vexing.
As a western Canadian MB, reading this dialogue feels like listening in on an exotic relative’s family argument. But this is not a theoretical struggle and a careful reading of the essays will reward the effort. What shines out from underneath the meticulous Mennonite scholarship and careful footnoting is a deep desire for authentic biblical faith beginning with the Seminary. This is “the heart of the matter.”
This is a book for education and leadership specialists. It is an academic conversation that gives no ground to the outsider. But those interested in the confluence of the pastoral and academic worlds will find much to reflect on.
James Toews is pastor of Neighbourhood MB Church, Nanaimo, B.C.
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