A collection of stories that reflect on ministry from the parishioners' point of view. Ten writers tell stories that will encourage pastors to persevere in their calling and fellow parishioners to continue in their faith journey. Kris Nichols, Matt Ackerman, Doug Rottman, and Shiao Chong all remember the significant roles individual pastors played in their lives. Judith Deem Dupree insists on the necessity of pastors staying near to God in their work. James Schaap asserts the primacy of love as a prerequisite to pastoring. Jack VandenBorn and Lorna Van Gilst recount their own pilgrimages and thereby offer us something of a history of the church's own story. Jenni Parker explores the issues which prompt churchgoers to move from one fellowship to another. Finally, Michael Vander Weele wants to believe that, for pastors, there are more important tasks than preaching. When he can't convince himself, he offers a memorable endorsement of the quickening power of the preaching of the Word.

Pastors will find the stories in Speaking of Pastors helpful, but so will those who fill the pews in churches all over North America. It offers reading enjoyment and honest encouragement for all. Speaking of Pastors is a companion volume to Persevering in Ministry by Joel Kok, ed., (2004).