Introducing the Practice of Ministry

Ministry is often examined in terms of who the minister is, not what the minister does. But the vocation to ministry must be understood as a call to identity as well as to practice, one that is rooted in Jesus' life and ministry as well as the Spirit's charisms. In Introducing the Practice of Ministry Kathleen A. Cahalan defines ministerial leadership as carried out through the practices of teaching, preaching, pastoral care, worship, social ministry, and administration for the sake of nurturing the life of discipleship in the community of believers. In her examination of charisms for each of the practices of ministry, Cahalan presents readers with a Trinitarian foundation, noting that "the practices of discipleship and ministry have their origin in the very practices of God."

"There are so many wonderful things to say about this book, I don't know where to start. It fills a real gap in introductory literature. It is a perfect book for those trying to discern a call. It speaks about ministry as a whole rather than a bunch of component parts (e.g., pastoral care, leadership, preching). It is richly grounded in Scripture, attentive to practice, and deeply theological. Step by Step, with clarity and wisdom, drawing on years of teaching and a keen eye for the right literature from a range of disciplines, Kathleen Cahalan guides us well through the aims and architecture of ministry."

Kathleen A. Cahalan is associate professor of theology at Saint John's University School of Theology-Seminary in Collegeville, Minnesota. She is author of Formed in the Image of Christ: The Sacramental-Moral Theology of Bernard Haring (Liturgical Press, 2004) and Projects That Matter: Successful Planning and Evaluation for Religious Organizations (Alban Institute, 2003). She is the past-president of the Association of Practical Theology.