Harry L. Reeder provides the following commentary on the writing ministry of pastors in his chapter “The Churchman of the Reformation” in John Calvin: A Heart for Devotion, Doctrine, & Doxology:
“By and large, the greatest theological publications from Pentecost to the first half of the nineteenth century were by pastors. There were two reasons. The first was that the church and its leaders expected and desired pastors to focus upon the prayerful study of God’s Word for effective preaching and teaching. The second was the desire among pastors to multiply the blessing of God’s Word preached by publishing sermons in written form.” (p. 63)
I’m very grateful to pastor a church in which the other leaders encourage Joe and I me to write in addition to our other responsibilities. We’re blessed!
Filed under: Biblical Leadership, Ministry Musings, The Local Church, Writing | Tagged: Harry L. Reeder, John Calvin Heart for Devotion, Pastoral Ministry, Writing
A history of reading is illuminating here. How people read has a history–reading changed through time.
Books were precious items in the pre-modern world. Since Protestantism required encountering God directly through the reading of Scriptures, the most precious book of all was the Bible. And the Bible, literally, was the voice of God. So for the pre-modern period, when one read, one literally heard the “voice” of the writer speaking to them, be it God or the minister. Witness the New England divine, Cotton Mather, who delighted in giving away copies of his books. As he did so, he reminded the recipient, “Remember, that I am speaking to you, all the while you have the Book before you!” Mather wrote about 130 imprints, his father wrote about 120. Writing was divorced from capitalism; it wasn’t about making money. Writing was about communicating God’s Word to one’s congregation and community of believers, to better build them up in the Body and challenge them to lead godly lives. The dividing line between print and orality was thin, if not blurred since print was really “speech” in this era.
So I am de-lurking (I’ve been following your blog for the last two months) after reading this post to add my praise for what you are doing here in this forum. Blogging may seem worlds away from the early Protestant church but really your intent to communicate your “two cents” lies close at heart to the writing ministry of pastors discussed in the Harry L. Reeder book. So thank you for continuing this age-old writing ministry.
“. . . encourage Joe and [me] to write . . . .”
Sincerely,
Grammar Man
(Helping writers write better)
Nice catch, Larry. An ironic place to make that mistake, eh? :)
Thanks for the encouraging words, Glenn. We’re actually writing primarily for those in our body, whether through devotionals, hymns, curriculum, etc. I think that’s an important focus to keep.