Gentle Shepherding

Book excerpt: Named "One of the Top Ten Books for Parish Clergy" for the year 2006 by the Academy of Parish Clergy! Gentle Shepherding offers a rare balance in an introduction to pastoral ethics, one that identifies deeply with the pastoral vocation and brings it into conversation with a developed body of ethical theory. The goal of the book is to equip seminarians and pastors with conceptual resources for clarifying moral responsibility in the practice of ministry. This responsibility includes three levels: the minister as a moral agent in offering care; the minister as a moral enabler in encouraging virtue in others; and the minister as a moral leader in facilitating congregational life and witness in society. Helping ministers and seminarians to think anew about their responsibilities and the moral quandaries in pastoral practice, Gentle Shepherding integrates theory with practice, providing case material for further reflection and discussion and at least one case study or exercise associated with each chapter.