All Hands Stand By to Repel Boarders
Tales from Life as a Lutheran Pastor
Imprint: Resource Publications
Cordell Strug served as a Lutheran pastor for almost twenty-eight years in rural Minnesota. In these stories and reflections, he gives a picture of a pastor's life from the inside. He writes of sitting with the dying and meeting with the angry, of visiting shut-ins and writing sermons, of lonely drives over frozen roads, of work he can't finish and wounds he can't heal. He is candid about what surprised or bothered him, about his misjudgments and failures, about the ever-growing weight of stress and sorrow. He tells who inspired him and who drove him nuts, which advice he found priceless and which he found useless. He shows the ideals of faith colliding with the realities of life in the struggling congregations he served.
Cordell Strug studied philosophy at Purdue University but spent most of his life as a Lutheran pastor (LCA and ELCA). He has written on philosophy, religion, literature, and film; he is the author of Lament of an Audience on the Death of an Artist.
"Seminary students and faculty, bishops and their staffs, church council and call committee members, and parish pastor colleagues will be among those who benefit from reading this reflection. . . . Prophetic imperatives and practical tips for team ministry cohere beautifully, normed by an unblinking commitment to a theology of the cross."
--Paul R. Sponheim, Professor Emeritus of Systematic Theology, Luther Seminary
"Rural life and the ministry experiences that go with it is not the easiest lifestyle to explain. Pastor Cordell Strug's book chronicles what that experience was like for him. It would make excellent reading for those considering rural ministry or for anyone wanting to understand how ministry in a rural setting can be a unique style of ministry. It may also help those who live in rural congregations get a glimpse of what some of the joys and challenges are for those who live and serve in rural ministry."
--Richard Hest, former parishioner and friend for life
"A very good writer can make a reflective memoir of the life of a small-town pastor into a delightful and thoughtful read. Real 'characters' whom one would be unlikely to meet in a big city are unavoidable in small towns, and Strug met a lot of them. His unvarnished account of certain episodes in his ministry makes for good reading."
--Arland Jacobson, Head of the Charis Continuing Education Program