Power and Authority in Pastoral Ministry

I've just managed to get my MA Thesis transferred from an old disc onto more contemporary readable Media.  It's taken 18 years, but on reading it back I realise just how much what I read at that time, and the thesis I ended up with, influences my approach to ministry today.  So I thought I would share it.  I'll do a chapter at a time over the next few days over on the New Kid Deep Stuff Blog with tasters here ...

Here's the introduction:


The nature of power in pastoral relationships
Introduction
Power exists as both a personal and structural ingredient of pastoral ministry.  It is present in any relationship of trust where one person seeks advice, aid or guidance from another. [more]

Comments

Anonymous said…
Very useful. Thank you for sharing. Looking forward to some more. Particularly drawn to the term 'appropriate dependence', relating it to my experiences - Rhapsody42
8:13 am
Bob MacDonald said…
It's timely given this week's reading from Numbers 11. The juxtaposition of quail with the sharing of Moses' spirit with the 70 elders underlines how difficult the pastoral role is. I did a little meditation on the music in the Hebrew text here. http://meafar.blogspot.ca/2014/06/pentecost-dove-and-quail.html
3:38 pm
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