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Wondering Pilgrim

~ the ramblings of a perambulent and often distracted sojourner

Wondering Pilgrim

Tag Archives: Eugene Peterson

Place and Time: Peterson’s Pastoral Imagination

14 Monday Jan 2013

Posted by wonderingpilgrim in Ministry, Personal, theology

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

Eugene Peterson, kairos, pastoral, place, theology

Sinai Sunrise

Sinai Sunrise (Photo credit: Ernie Reyes)

Some of the most evocative reading I’ve engaged over the Christmas/New Year break has been from Eugene Peterson’s The Pastor: a memoir . The development of what he has famously described as “pastoral imagination” is to the fore throughout the telling of his autobiographical pilgrimage.

His opening section, Topos and Kairos, I found immediately compelling. The title invites consideration of place and time as markers of the pastoral journey, using biblical metaphors that are not so much the tools of trade of pastoral practice, but windows of awareness.

I found myself easily recognising such associations: Moses in the ordinary work of minding sheep encounters the burning bush at Midian. My “Midian” was the small electrical warranty and repair counter in Myers bargain basement in Adelaide. Who would have thought that the insistent call of the great “I AM” could occur in conversations with customers bringing in their broken toasters and burnt out irons?

Elijah’s Horeb cave and the discovery of the power of the “still small voice” was an Eremos retreat in a monastery on the outskirts of Canberra. The headiness of innovative outreach and dialogue amongst some of the movers and shakers of the land had ceased to satisfy. Elijah’s depression descended. The opening to a quieter more contemplative approach to ministry was literally a God-send.

The Patmos of John is a little harder for me to place – it seems most of my 40 years in ministry has been unravelling the essence of the “heavenly city” from its cultural accretions. The empire is all-pervasive. Sometimes I know John’s exile, but mostly I find myself complicit.

As the book unfolds, other places come to mind – David-king-in-waiting’s Ziklag, where resource-starved marginalisation constrains the vision splendid; the Sinai wilderness wastelands survived through the providential gifts of manna, quail and hidden springs; the place of congregational formation as tent, rather than cave or fortress.

With all these, I can make immediate association – and thus tap into the richness of the salvific direction of such events, times and places.

Peterson, retired now and spending much time in his beloved Montana cabin, swims against the tide of much Western ecclesiological management theory. I still find his voice a firm and clear (and, I might say, saving) call to the filling of pastoral vocation.

-31.911079 115.772731

This morning it worked…

07 Sunday Feb 2010

Posted by wonderingpilgrim in Wembley Downs

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Tags

church, discipleship, Eugene Peterson, faith, mentoring, story

My flock and I have been experimenting a little lately with “mutual mentoring” – something that Paul’s theology of the church says we ought to be good at. Reprising Eugene Peterson’s “Five Smooth Stones for Pastoral Work” as a framework, we use the Revised Common Lectionary, our source for Sunday’s readings, as a guide to reflect on how together we make stories, build community, share pain, direct prayer and nay-say. On the first Sunday of the month, we use “sermon-time” to share our stories and reflections and receive our fresh printed guide for the coming month. This morning was our third attempt, and by George, we got it! Reflecting on January’s Epiphany stories, we had been looking to be aware of how the presence of God was manifested in the ordinary, and particularly in the stories of Jesus’ growing awareness and announcement of his mission mandate to bring humanity to wholeness.

Some of what we heard from within our small 60 strong multi-generational congregation

  • our Peruvian contact deploying the resources of their tourism business to bring relief and aid to hundreds of remote villagers whose livelihood and houses have been destroyed by mudslides
  • a young lad who volunteers at a farm school “knowing himself to be close to God when he’s with the animals.”
  • folk who, in seeking accommodation and relocating living quarters, discovered fresh connections to their vocations
  • a couple sharing fifty years of marriage in celebration
  • the trials, tribulations and joys of building community in a retirement village setting

As Epiphany comes to its climax and we prepare to begin the Lenten journey to Good Friday and Resurrection, this morning demonstrated to us all what strength there is in sharing our journeys of faith in the supportive setting of Sunday morning worship. The buzz over coffee and wedding anniversary cake afterwards suggests that stories continue to be shared and made.

-31.911079 115.772731

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