Luther Seminary professor Andrew Root’s new book, “The Pastor in a Secular Age,” examines the challenge of “ministering to people who no longer need a God.” This book is the second in a trilogy about ministry in a post-faith world that started with the 2017 release of “Faith Formation in a Secular Age.”
In “The Pastor in a Secular Age,” Root analyzes how secularism has impacted pastoral identity and practice, obscuring the core vocation of ministry: to call and assist others into the experience of ministry. Using examples of pastors throughout history, from Augustine to Rick Warren, Root shows have pastors have both perpetuated and responded to our secular age. Then he turns to the Old Testament and the theology of Robert Jenson to explore how pastors can regain the important role of attending to people’s experiences of divine action.
Annette Brownlee, chaplain and professor of pastoral theology at Wycliffe College, says, “This book is a must-read for anyone preparing for pastoral ministry or currently in ministry. Highly readable, it seeks to reclaim a pastoral identity that is rooted in the divine action of a ministering God….Root encourages pastors to reclaim an identity based on their participation in God’s acts of ministry. It is in these very acts of ministry that a window is opened to the transcendent and ministering God in a secular age.”