Called to be a Pastor: Why it Matters to Both Congregations and Clergy is a how-to resource with a memoir touch, describing the essential but delicate partnership between clergy and congregation. This partnership requires nurture and attention to detail if the relationship is to prosper. Indeed, the congregation often holds the fate of their pastor’s ministry success, much the same way fertile earth holds the fate of a freshly planted seed. On the other hand, a congregation suffers when a pastor is not fully engaged or is incapable of guiding a congregation toward meeting its ministry objectives. Neither pastor nor congregation can serve their designated role without the other’s full and active participation in extending God’s kingdom. Laypersons and pastors may never see each other in quite the same way after reading Called to be a Pastor. This book captures the pastor/congregation insights that come from a successful pastoral career: First, as a church planter, later as a judicatory with oversight of thirty-five congregations, and, most recently, as a consultant to a broad range of denominations. First time readers have claimed this book to be thought provoking, inspirational, and enlightening!