Loving and Leaving a Church: A Pastor's Journey

by Barbara Melosh

Overview

Barbara Melosh's story was a common one. A second-career seminarian, she arrived at her first pastorate brimming with enthusiasm and high hopes. The blue-collar congregation to which she'd been called had a glorious past but an uncertain future. Certain that she could turn around its slow yet undeniable slide into decline, Melosh inaugurated a number of church growth and outreach programs. Most of these efforts had little effect, and the ones that did seem to work soon suffered reverse outcomes and eventual demise. In the end, Melosh had to conclude that the members of the congregation liked their church the way it was and that she could not drag them into a future they did not want.

Yet while the congregation failed to change itself, Melosh notes, it succeeded in changing her. Simply put, it made her a pastor. At times heartbreaking and hilarious, Loving and Leaving a Church offers a glimpse into the challenges and opportunities of ministry in a mainline church.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780664264345
Publisher:	Westminster John Knox Press
Publication date:	07/24/2018
Pages:	214
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.50(d)

About the Author

Barbara Melosh is an ordained Lutheran pastor and former college professor at George Mason University. She writes for Christian Century and other clergy journals.

Editorial Reviews

This well-told story of real-life ministry in a small congregation moved me deeply. A pastor and a people come to life in these pages, as heartbreak and hope contend within the worship, the building, and the community they share. I heartily commend Loving and Leaving a Churchto anyone who cares about, and worries over, a community of faith that struggles to live as Christ's body in this time of challenge and change.Pastors who read this book will ponder anew the meaning of success and the contours of faithfulness--and parishioners will see with fresh eyes their own strong role in embodying God's presence in the particular places where God's people gather and serve. Dorothy Bass, Valparaiso University

From the Publisher