Effective Pastoral Ministry in Various Settings

To be effective, pastors must minister in a variety of settings. Each setting--whether hospital room, jail, nursing home, funeral home, or even in the pastor's study--is different. Each setting brings its own unique dilemmas and rules. The pastor's authority will vary according to the setting as will the expectations of the pastor by the staff and parishioners in each setting.

The pastor must be comfortable in a variety of settings in order to build Christ-centered relationships, but comfort comes only with familiarity and some settings can be intimidating or even frightening. Bailing a parishioner out of jail in the middle of the night presents challenges to ministry as does helping parishioners plan their loved one's funeral after a suicide.

Context matters, and Urias Beverly gives the reader concrete steps and illustrations on how to artfully minister in a variety of common settings as well as how to cope with the dilemmas pastors face in facilitating ministry in these settings.