Reviewing Mondays With My Old Pastor

I've put this review off for far too long. First off, I loved the book. The delay in writing the review has hung on two questions. Did this really happen? Does it matter?

In Monday's With My Old Pastor, Jose Luis Navajo tells, from a ministry perspective, a wonderful, compelling, encouraging and helpful tale of a the mentoring relationship between an aged pastor, in the latter days of his life, and a former member of his congregation who is now a pastor himself. The wisdom and advice that the “old” pastor gives is some I will be turning back to from time to time. One principle, by way of example, passed on is to never make changes in the midst of a storm. This advice is both practical and pertinent. The point is to wait until the storm passes, and then evaluate whether or not it is the right time to seek a new ministry.

Let's get back to the two questions. The principles passed along in this book sound really good. Compared to the two characters in the book, I'm new to ministry. I cannot say whether or not they hold up. I haven't been at this long enough to experience them. I need them to be more than just words that sound good. If this relationship in the book truly happened, if the old pastor actually experienced the truth of these principles and is really passing them on to me through his relationship with this younger pastor, then they hold so much more weight.

If the principles are as sound as I suspect they are, then everyone sensing a call to pastoral ministry should read this book for it's practical overview of what it means to shepherd a flock.