Andy Rowell

Church Leadership Conversations

  • Great movie for pastors: Lars and the Real Girl

    Go rent Lars and the Real Girl (PG-13).

    How I pick movies:
    I have blogged before about how I tend to pick movies: How to Sort Through Which Movies are Worth Seeing.  In short, we often look at Christianity Today Movies and see what they have given 3 1/2 or 4 stars–see their page Our Top Rated Movies.  Amy and I don't really watch R rated movies because they make us cringe too much–the sex and the violence–is that because we are around a 3 year old and 1 year old and so our normal environment is so gentle?  The Christianity Today Movies site is not foolproof–basically they have assembled a bunch of reviewers who are thoughtful Christians but their tastes vary.  So my final criteria is to look at the Rotten Tomatoes site which serves as a collecting place for reviews.  The beauty of Rotten Tomatoes is that they take something very subjective–movies–and provide survey results and excerpts of reviews so that you can easily get a snapshot of whether reviewers liked the movie or not.  Now, this may sound like a lot of research but it can help you find movies that were reviewed by a Christian highly and were liked by a lot of reviewers. 

    Recommendation:
    So, to my point, I would recommend Lars and the Real Girl rated

    Here is the Rotten Tomatoes information as an example of how their system works:
    Reviews Counted: 125

    Fresh: 101

    Rotten:24

    Average Rating: 7.1/10

    My synopsis of Lars and the Real Girl:
    In the movie,
    a small town (think "church") helps bring healing to a man with emotional problems because they love him well.  It is quite beautiful.  Lonely Lars
    pretends a life-sized doll is his girlfriend.  The town
    goes along with his pretending – showing that they really love him; but they also push him beyond his pretending.  It is a great picture
    of what the church should be. 

    The only disclaimer is that the doll he ordered is a life-size sex doll
    but this is really quite a minor part of the story.  It is thus rated PG-13
    "for some sex-related content." 

    Additional recommendations:
    Amy and I also liked Dan in Real Life.

    and Once

    Note again my post:
    How to Sort Through Which Movies are Worth Seeing (August 7, 2007).

  • Review of Pastor: Theology and Practice by Will Willimon

    Here is my Amazon.com review of:

    Willimon is a hero to me.  I would love to do the writing, teaching and leading that he has done in his life.  I appreciated his wise reflections in this book. 

    4.0 out of 5 stars Comprehensive, insightful but verbose, November 13, 2008

    By
    Andrew D. Rowell (Durham, NC) – See all my reviews
    (REAL NAME)

    Reading this book is like having a very long conversation with one of the premier pastor of pastors in the United States. Will Willimon has a Ph.D. in theology, was the Dean of the Chapel at Duke University for many years, and is now a Bishop in the United Methodist Church. He has written many books and has written regularly for both Christian Century and Christianity Today’s Leadership Journal. He is worth listening to.

    Seminary students might want to read the book cover to cover to get 336 pages of reflection and insight into pastoral ministry. They will invariably gain a greater grasp of the types of dilemmas pastors face and some ways of reflecting on those issues. Others will want to have this book on their shelf–to consult when the issue of ordination, pastoral care, and preaching comes up; they can then turn to the relevant chapter and enrich the discussion. While reflecting on contemporary issues in the church, Willimon does significant exegetical work in the New Testament as well as drawing upon Augustine, Luther, Calvin and Wesley.

    As both Christopher S. Royer and S. A. Garno note in their reviews: the book is comprehensive in its reflections but is a bit difficult to read because it is so verbose and convoluted. Still, there are insights on every page–each person who reads it will grow in their understanding of pastoring.

    Your Tags: pastoring, pastoral theology, ordained ministry, clergy, pastor, church leadership


    Related resources: 

    Will Willimon’s Blog:

    A Peculiar Prophet–A Dialogue with Bishop Will Willimon of the North Alabama Conference of the United Methodist Church

    Bishop Willimon’s Podcast iTunes link–will only work if you have iTunes (which is free program that works on PC’s and Macs) installed on your computer

  • Review of With God in the Crucible by Peter Storey

    Here is my Amazon.com review of

    Peter Storey, With God in the Crucible: Preaching Costly Discipleship (Nashville: Abingdon, 2005). 

    5.0 out of 5 stars Powerful sermons that concisely tell the story of the fall of apartheid in South Africa, November 13, 2008

    By
    Andrew D. Rowell (Durham, NC) – See all my reviews
    (REAL NAME)

    I was moved to tears and deeply challenged by this tale of the struggle against apartheid in South Africa–illustrated by the concise sermons of Peter Storey. In 1990, apartheid began being dismantled. In 1994, the first democratic elections were held. Storey was involved before, during and after these events. Storey was the pastor of Central Methodist Mission Methodist in Johannesburg from 1976 to 1989; Methodist Bishop of the Johannesburg/Soweto area from 1984 to 1997; and Professor of the Practice of Christian ministry at Duke Divinity School from 1999 to 2006. Storey himself is a white South African but served alongside black leaders like Desmond Tutu who wrote the foreword.

    It took me about 4 hours to read the 175 pages. There are 23 sermons here which may sound like a lot but they are only 2-5 pages each. Each sermon is prefaced by a description of the dramatic events that occasioned the sermon. The sermons launch from a relevant Scriptural text and are illustrated with poignant stories and powerful quotations.

    Retired United Methodist Bishop Ken Carder required this book for first year MDiv students in his Introduction to Christian Ministry course at Duke Divinity School and they thoroughly enjoyed it.

    Note:

    I do not think of Amazon.com reviews as significant academic
    reviews of the book.  People who view this review at Amazon.com will
    already be browsing the book.  My review is intended to give the person
    a better idea of what is in the book, thus helping them decide if they
    want to buy it.  No one had reviewed Storey’s book so I thought I would
    give people a better idea of what it was all about. 

    Related resources:

    See my other post about Storey at:
    Education in the Local Church: Taylor, Willimon, Storey, Niebuhr, and Groome

    An online article by him is:
    Peter Storey, Rules of Engagement: Faithful Congregations in a Dangerous World. Inaugural Lecture for Ruth W. and A. Morris Williams, Jr. Chair of the Practice of Christian Ministry at Duke University Divinity School, 1999.  Storey taught at Duke Divinity School from 1999 to 2006.

    See the Sustaining Pastoral Excellence website for more Duke Divinity School resources on pastoring. 

    We read the following books in Bishop Ken Carder’s Introduction to Christian Ministry course at Duke Divinity School, where I am the preceptor (teaching assistant). 

    Books for Ken Carder’s Intro to Christian Ministry