After the fifth gathering, the project had accumulated 67 epistles from its participants, who chose their own topics, resulting in a broad range of identified challenges for today’s pastors.
In order to condense the myriad topics into ten tangible themes, a Distillation Group was formed, composed of one representative from each of the five gatherings and the Project Director, all of whom read all 67 epistles. The group convened in January 2025 to develop a comprehensive list of the ten priority issues to serve as a launching point for Phase 2 of the project.
This distillation process also included consideration of topics we regard as being of general concern to pastors but were not necessarily top of mind for participants. These topics included: Preaching, Leaving the Call to Ministry, Ecumenism, the Pastor’s Family, and a Theological Anthropology that considers the issues of personhood, identity, and gender.
At the end of the distillation process, the group developed a consensus of recommending these ten topics for deeper theological reflection on pastoral ministry in Phase 2:
Following Christ
How does the pastor proclaim Jesus Christ as the surprising mission of God? How is the Savior behind, among, and ahead of us? How does he continue to confuse his disciples by working outside of the church – even among those called the “nones” in religious affiliation? What is the new thing he is doing among younger generations within the church? Why does ministry begin, stay nurtured, and end with the pastor being the beloved in Christ? What does it mean to follow this one dying to love us?
Conflict
We live in a highly polarized, conflicted society, which the churches experience as well. This is a leading cause of pastoral burnout, but Jesus didn’t avoid conflict. He often even created it, and yet he is our peace and blesses the peacemakers. How can conflict become an opportunity for spiritual transformation for the pastor and the church? How many of our conflicts are rooted in contemporary idolatries, including the church building and ideological or political allegiances? Are the conflicts within the church a way of distracting ourselves from God’s conflict with the church?
Divine Justice
How does pastoral ministry engage the work of divine justice in the church and world around it? What is the relationship of divine to human agency working for justice? How does the church participate in the work of racial, economic, and creation justice without being politically or ideologically captured? What is the church to make of divine power and sovereignty in the face of injustice without presuming the role of a savor or a mission of Christian conquest? When is justice about holy wrath and when is it about God’s love and mercy?
Dignifying Difference
How might the diversity of races, genders, generations, economics, politics, and even theologies within the church be regarded as holy gifts rather than an impediment to unity and mission? How does the church continue to struggle to accept God’s adoption of “the gentiles” into the church? What does it mean to break down the dividing walls of hostility today? How are all things held together in Christ? What is the theological impetus within Christianity to dignify all religious traditions?
Ecclesial Identity
What are the distinctive marks and theological norms for the church today? What is future of denominational life in America, and how are their traditions and polities in need of more reformation? Who is the body of Christ in a digital age, and what is meant by an enfleshed community? How ought the church understand ecclesial identity in view of the multitude of identities its members embrace? What can old ecclesial wineskins learn from the Holy Spirit’s work in new wineskins found in the Southern Hemisphere and migrant communities in the Northern Hemisphere?
Eschatological Hope
How can a renewed interpretation of the culminating reign of Christ over all the earth inspire pastoral ministry, especially preaching, in a time of social and ecclesial despair? How does eschatological hope critique the status quo, sacralize the present opportunity, and reorient pastoral ministry? How does the Holy Spirit bind the church to Christ’s death-defying ministry? What might the persevering marks of the cross on Jesus’ resurrected body tell us about the nature of hoping in Christ?
Fear
Fear is endemic in our society, our churches, and the pastorate. We fear each other and the “them” who we blame for our problems. We fear the future and yet also our inability to make substantive changes. Most of our financial debates are also rooted in fear. How do the theologies of providence and perfect love cast out fear? And how do those theologies easily get distorted without humility?
The Spirit of Pentecost
The church was born at Pentecost by the Spirit who gifted it with an intercultural, multilingual ethos that empowered young and old to serve as witnesses of the work of Christ to the ends of the earth. Is Pentecost the theological response to our polarized society and churches? How does the Spirit empower contemporary disciples to speak all the languages and cultures, including the diverse cultures within the church? What are the landscapes of mission for the Spirit in the church and world today?
The Pastor’s Soul
What is at the heart of the pastor’s identity and calling? What is ordination for, and how does it change over the course of a pastor’s service to the church? Who is the pastor’s pastor? What practices are critical to maintaining a healthy pastoral soul? How does the pastor live with multiple callings that may include marriage, family, and friendship? How does the soul of the young pastor develop the gravitas needed to draw people to Christ?
Stewardship of Technology
The church has always used some form of technology to proclaim the Gospel. The digital revolution has created both opportunities and challenges for ministry today, including the diversity of generational responses to this technology. What is our theology for online worship, digital communities of faith, and virtual administration of the sacraments? What does it mean for the church to embody Christ in a digital age? What are the theological implications for appropriating AI technology? And how can ecclesial traditions be honored and reformed by technological advancements?
(These are not suggested book titles, but recommended themes and questions for theological reflection. The actual content of the books that will be written in Phase 2 will vary in focus from this list depending on the authors and publisher who are selected.)