Introduction

"We've got a list of questions, issues, stuff we're dealing with. We want your input, your thoughts on this stuff." Such were the origins of this little book. Two young clergy, early in their first call, imagined that I might have some useful wisdom to pass on based on my own years in ministry.

Something like this was once standard preparation. Young people learned a profession like law, ministry, or medicine by apprenticing themselves to one seasoned in the practice. Not only has that way of learning largely vanished but we now live in times of increasing segregation and suspicion between different generations.

Still, these two millennials bucked the trends. They thought they might have something to learn from an old boomer. The result is this collection of letters: personal, wry, direct, and honest. Full of both hope and realism about the church and ministry.

This collection will be a welcome companion for young, and for many not so young, clergy trying to get a handle on ministry in the midst of a time that is full of change and challenge.