Friday, March 16, 2007

On Abboting

I am pondering the idea of pastor as abbot.


Does anyone have recommended books, articles or websites that reflect upon this? Any thoughts on this?
UPDATE: Check out this Church in Minneapolis -- Abbeyway Covenant Church.
UPDATE 2: Check The Church as Abbey on Adrian Warnock's blog. Check out the church as abbey tag -- he has a bunch of posts.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Peter,

I think the analogy of Pastor as Abbot is more accurate than the Pastor as CEO model that we've all experienced and generally dislike. We are a kingdom of Priests, perhaps Monks (Hmmm...an interesting idea!)and the Abbott is there to work alongside of us, preparing us, shepherding us on to greater works in Christ. He is a coworker and mentor, spiritual leader... aha! a Servant Leader.

Yes, I like this alot. My 2.

Anonymous said...

As you think about this, you might want to read chapter 2 of The Rule of St. Benedict. The entire chapter deals with the role of Abbot.

Peace.

Anonymous said...

Finding Sanctuary: Monastic Steps for Everyday Life by Christopher Jamison is a good resource. He is the Abbot of Worth, a Benedictine monastery in Sussex, England.

Anonymous said...

Apart from chapter 2 of St. Benedict's Rule, chapter 7 of St. Augustine's Rule is also another good read.