Review of For the Beauty of the Church

The good folks at Transpositions have had the mind to review For the Beauty of the Church chapter by chapter. My chapter was reviewed, incidentally, on my birthday. They brought up a good concern about what I'm suggesting. I copied my response below. There is good discourse on each chapter in the respective comment sections.

I don't know if anything could be more exciting than this! Thanks to you guys for taking such care with this book. Your collective thoughtfulness will make us better pastors and leaders in the future.

For the record, I'm aware of the 'cute' factor of my three P's. I had come up with that language back in '98 when I wrote out the initial mission statement for the arts ministry. The P's were a coincidence then. That same language has served me thus far, so I kept it the unintentional alliteration.

Regarding the factory concern: yes, a very good concern. Another reviewer elsewhere suggested that what I'm suggesting is tantamount to turning pastors into "talent scouts." Well, yes indeed. I do believe that pastors are talent scouts but not just of artistic gifts but of all gifts. Those of us who have the privilege/burden of being paid in ministry--I believe--are paid primarily to identify and release the many gifts within our congregations, preaching, teaching, worship leading, outreach, service, intercession as well as painting, poetry, composition etc.... We are called to "equip the saints for the work of ministry." Much of what I do as a campus minister can be called vocational counseling. I help students identify, trust and test their passions. I would LOVE churches to be better equipped to maybe not become 'gift' or 'talent' "factories" but perhaps conservatories, gardens, flourishing farms.

Peace of Christ to you. Thanks again.