The Pastor in a Secular Age, Andrew Root
The Pastor in a Secular Age, Andrew Root
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The Pastor in a Secular Age
Ministry to People Who No Longer Need a God

Author: Andrew Root

Narrator: Mike Lenz

Unabridged: 12 hr 29 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 01/24/2023

Synopsis

In Faith Formation in a Secular Age, the first book in his Ministry in a Secular Age trilogy, Andrew Root offered an alternative take on the issue of youth drifting away from the church and articulated how faith can be formed in our secular age. In The Pastor in a Secular Age, Root explores how this secular age has impacted the identity and practice of the pastor, obscuring his or her core vocation: to call and assist others into the experience of ministry.

Using examples of pastors throughout history—from Augustine and Jonathan Edwards to Martin Luther King Jr. and Nadia Bolz-Weber—Root shows how pastors have both perpetuated and responded to our secular age. Root turns to Old Testament texts and to the theology of Robert Jenson to explain how pastors can regain the important role of attending to people's experiences of divine action, offering a new vision for pastoral ministry today.

About Andrew Root

Andrew Root is Carrie Olson Baalson Professor of Youth and Family Ministry at Luther Seminary in St. Paul, Minnesota. He is the author of more than twenty books, including Faith Formation in a Secular Age, The Pastor in a Secular Age, The Congregation in a Secular Age, Churches and the Crisis of Decline, The Church after Innovation, and The End of Youth Ministry? Root is also coauthor (with Kenda Creasy Dean) of The Theological Turn in Youth Ministry. He is a frequent speaker and hosts the popular and influential When Church Stops Working podcast.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Joseph

I’ve been greatly impacted by Taylor and those writing on the implications of “A Secular Age” for ministry. Here Root describes the pastoral malaise that often afflicts pastors, arguing that it makes sense in a secular age where divine action isn’t anticipated. I definitely resonated with his descri......more

Goodreads review by Tom

The subtitle of Andrew Root’s new book took up immediate residence in my gut: “The Pastor in a Secular Age: Ministry to People Who No Longer Need a God.” Being a pastor is one of those professions difficult to explain to a non-pastor. This is true of many professions. Outside perceptions, it seems to......more

Goodreads review by Trey

This will sound hyperbolic, but it's really not: this book (along with Volume 1 in Root's eventual trilogy reflecting on Charles Taylor's magnum opus The Secular Age) is an *absolute must-read* for anyone engaged in ministry and mission today. What I appreciate most -- and there were so many revelat......more

Goodreads review by Drew

Very interesting engagement of Taylor’s work with the pastoral office. Love his use of pop culture themes to explain complex ideas. The audiobook was a bit frustrating because some common names and terms were mispronounced, such as Barth. Highly recommended for pastors. James KA Smith’s book on Tayl......more

Goodreads review by Adam

I am quickly becoming an Andrew Root acolyte as his finger seems to be on the pulse of what is happening to the Christian faith in Western culture as well as anyone I have read. I found this second installment of the Ministry in a Secular Age series articulating my experience as a pastor for the las......more

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