The ordinary practice of ministry requires pastors and Christian leaders to be moral theologians in residence for the communities they serve. Ministers must preach about morally challenging texts, teach about moral issues and conflicts, offer moral counsel, and serve as an example regarding the shape of faithful Christian life.
In The Minister as Moral Theologian, respected scholar and veteran teacher Sondra Wheeler offers Christian leaders tools for facing the demands of ministry and seizing the opportunities of being a moral teacher. Grounding pastoral ethics in spiritual formation and spiritual disciplines, she invites leaders to reconnect the demands of their office with their aspirations as a disciple. Wheeler not only integrates ethical preaching, teaching, and counsel with the pastor's own moral and spiritual life, but also focuses on the day-to-day challenges and possibilities of ministry in churches and other institutional settings.
Offering guidance many practicing pastors wish they had received in seminary, this is an essential text for courses in the practice of ministry, and is a must-read for seminarians and clergy alike.
Sondra Wheeler (PhD, Yale University) is Martha Ashby Carr Professor of Christian Ethics at Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, DC. She has decades of experience preparing ministers and teaching advanced courses in the practice of ministry. Wheeler is the author of several books, including What We Were Made For: Christian Reflections on Love.