Ep 071: De-Sizing the Church (pt 3): What Eugene Peterson Is Still Teaching Us About Pastoral Ministry, with Winn Collier

The Church Lobby

If small church pastors have a modern patron saint, Eugene Peterson might be it.

In this episode, Karl Vaters talks with Peterson’s biographer, Winn Collier about the places where Winn’s book, A Burning in My Bones: The Authorized Biography of Eugene H. Peterson, Translator of The Message, overlaps with Karl's book, De-sizing the Church.

They talk about how Winn was entrusted to write Peterson’s authorized bio, why people (especially pastors) are still so fascinated by Peterson’s writings, his life, and the way he pastored. Then they narrow in on how Peterson accurately, but fairly critiqued the church growth movement and our obsession with bigness.

Finally, they address several parts of Peterson’s life and ministry that didn’t fit into De-sizing the Church, including:

• How Peterson’s life connected with people even deeper than his writings did
• The importance of pastoral presence
• How Peterson pushed back against our size obsession and the institutionalism of a business-centered approach to church growth
• The importance of those inefficient hours in a pastor’s life and schedule
• And more

Links:

• A Burning in My Bones: The Authorized Biography of Eugene H. Peterson, Translator of The Message
• Working the Angles: The Shape of Pastoral Integrity

Karl's new book, De-sizing the Church: How Church Growth Became a Science, Then an Obsession, and What's Next, is now available wherever you buy books, either electronically or in print. If you’ve read the book and you’d like Karl to speak to your group about the issues he raises in it, reach out at KarlVaters.com/Contact Me.

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