God's Potters: Pastoral Leadership and the Shaping of Congregations

Pastoral ministry is an occupation in flux. In this comprehensive study Jackson Carroll considers the many factors — changing roles among clergy and laypeople, the opening of ordination to women, an increasing shortage of clergy, and more — that are shaping congregations and ministers today. Building on Paul’s image of Christians as “clay jars,” Carroll paints a portrait of “God’s potters” — pastors whose calling is to form their congregational jars so that they reveal rather than hide God’...