Re-Calling Ministry

"Clergy who read this book will wonder how Jim Dittes knows all about them without ever having met them. Congregations who read it may better understand the moodiness of their clergy. By telling the truth about the guaranteed griefs of parish ministry, Dittes seems to be describing a vocation gone wrong. Instead, he makes a case for how right it is to yield to a calling that will bring pain to the soul. This is rock-bottom good news for all who have done just that and ample reason for others to join them."

-- Barbara Brown Taylor, Piedmont College



"Re-Calling Ministry is not a book for persons wanting ten easy steps for successful ministry or expecting seven healthy habits for spirituality. James Dittes is a theological poet who meditates on the biblical and pastoral meanings of ministry and engages the reflective practitioner of ministry in probing the deeper meanings of the vocation. His writings escape typical time boundaries as a multiplicity of ministerial metaphors tumble from his essays."

-- Donald E. Messer, The Iliff School of Theology