The Christian Priest Today

by Arthur Michael Ramsey

Ramsey offers pastors--both the seasoned and the newly ordained in any Christian tradition--advice on how to lead and serve a Christian community of faith today, including how to guide the congregation's prayer life, how to strike a balanced relationship between politics and social justice, and how to perform the role of spiritual leader with the proper humility of a servant minister.

Genres: Theology, Christian, Religion, Nonfiction, Christianity, Church, Leadership

1 pages, Paperback

First published November 14, 1985

About the author

Served as the 100th Archbishop of Canterbury from 1961 - 1974.

Reviews

[Ben Crosby]

A magnificent meditation on the priesthood. This is truly an amazing little book.

[Kenny]

This was an excellent read! The book is a series of lectures preparing folks for ordination to the priesthood, and his counsel and wisdom is relevant and timeless.

[David Goetz]

Very valuable little book on the nature and work of ordained ministry, one worth re-reading regularly. You don't have to be an Anglican to benefit from this one!

[Tyler Lund-Hansen]

A friend of mine gave me this book. He first read it when he was going through the ordination process (as I am now.) He returns to it every year. I see why. A thoughtful, wise, concise book.

[Michael Keith McGee]

Beautiful book by Archbishop Ramsey. Full of wisdom and humility from a seasoned priest and bishop for those to be ordained.

[Colby]

"You will remember that nothing that is human and nothing that is created lies outside of the compassion of God" (p.23)

"It is true that Jesus gave to his disciple a good deal of teaching about the meaning of his coming suffering and death, but this teaching did not apparently penetrate their minds. It baffled them, and when Jesus died the disciples had not learnt the secret; indeed the secret died with him. Something happened to create for the disciples a new doctrine of death as significant and victorious. I believe that thing was the Resurrection." (p.30)

"But consider: the glory of Christianity is its claim that small things really matter and that the small company, the very few, the one man, the one woman, the one child are of infinite worth to God." (p.42)

"Do not treat doctrines of the Creed as a string of impersonal items...Treat them as doctrines of Christ...Thus the Father Almighty declares his almighty power most chiefly in showing mercy and pity—in the mercy and pity of Christ's incarnation" (p.56)

"he will not become a true priest until his heart is broken" (p.90)


I'm quite glad I read this. Even if it was mandated by the class I've not had the best attitude about. Archbishop Ramsey had a knack for particularizing Christ's gospel in practical ministry—in viewing Christ as meeting the many in the work of the priest. Which is nothing new I suppose, but his writing was lucid and helpful. I enjoyed it and will be returning to it.

[Christopher Pokorny]

Archbishop Ramsey gives simple yet exceptional counsel infused with wisdom to those to be ordained in the Anglican tradition. My only request is that it be updated seeing as some of his examples date the text and detract from his timeless maxims. Still a glorious book for pre-ordination retreat.

[Ryan Spear]

Some chapters are excellent - the more pastoral ones (8-13). The rest seem particularly situated in tbt context in which it was written - for those about to be ordained in the CoE in the early 1980s. At times there a too much hand-wringing about finding a middle way amongst everything - politics, progressive vs. conservative - rather than a clear call.

Also lines like this which are head-scratchers:
“God has made himself known in many cultures and religions. We study the truth of this and its limitations.” (103)

[Becky Schommer]

I don’t know that I had new Revelation from reading this book, but it was very grounding to me in preparation for ordination as a presbyter. The author is contemporary enough to speak to the challenges confronting the church in this day, yet conveys a wisdom that Is rooted well in the scripture and the historical church. It would be worth revisiting on occasion (It revisiting the reflections I wrote.)

[Kris Rolls]

This is my third time reading this little book and it won't be my last. Michael Ramsey wrote it for ordinands in the Church of England where he served as a Bishop. This is a neat little primer on the pastoral office for just about anyone, however. What does it mean to be a pastor other than "being with God with people on your heart"?

[Michaela]

I really loved this book. It has been my favourite so far that I have read on the priesthood. It was quoted from extensively in Being a Deacon Today by Rosalind Brown, and I can tell why - it is such an amazing book. I have lots of pithy quotes to take away about prayer and study and ultimately living as a priest such as this - "May it one day be said of you that you made God real to people."

It is the kind of book that I think you could re-read every year and find some new gem inside. It's just crammed full of wisdom.

[Kelly Hatley]

And outstanding read for my sabbatical

Read it during my sabbatical and thoroughly enjoyed it! It was food for the soul, and even though it was written in the last century, it still is exceedingly applicable for today.

[Rhys Williams]

Some real golden nuggets in this text. But it was hard to read and could do with a modernised version. Also some key things not considered which are vital to any Christian ministry: building a habit of reading the scriptures, living as God’s children and being led by the Holy Spirit.

[Sara Powell]

Not a book to read lightly or quickly. I suspect I will be returning to this work in the future.

[Alex]

Again, an amazing read. One that I hope I’ll revisit at least once a year. Prophetic and timeless words are offered by former Archbishop Ramsey for the developing Priest. Wonderful!

[Miles Smith]

Such an uneven book; the pastoral chapters are much better than the ones where Lord Ramsey ventured explicitly in to theology or sacramentology.

[Mark Einselen]

Great material for anyone working in ministry. Short and to the point.

[Jonathan Thompson]

An excellent overview of several areas of the vast life that is priesthood.

[Ryan Barkley]

well written, much is still relevant from the time it was originally written. 3.7 stars.

[Neil Reilly]

Michael Ramsay, Archbishop of Canterbury in the 60s and 70s, expounds upon what it means to be a priest in modern times. From an Anglican perspective, he explores how the priesthood sits in a unique geographic space as a "gathering up of rolls which belong to the whole church." The priest, therefore, must display, enable and involve the whole of the church--teaching and preaching, reconciling differences, praying, and leading the eucharist.

If that's what a priest must do and what the priesthood is, who is a priest, as a person? A hymn of the Middle Ages answers "Quid es ergo? Nihil et omnia, O Sacerdos. / What are you then? Nothing and everything, O Priest." Ramsay agrees but gets a little more specific.

He speaks with great personal conviction about the unique sorrows and joys of life in ministry. How a priest's prayer must somehow carry the prayer of the church to God and God to the church. How important the person of Jesus in the life of a priest: a priest cannot simply teach the real presence in the Eucharist, but must teach and show whose real presence it is. How a priest cannot be a priest until their heart is broken, and how our sorrows are the door to Christ's sorrows. And Christ's sorrows are the door to all joy. How important that joy is. How wonderful it is to wonder at the sacraments and God's love, and how hard it is to hold on to that. He speaks of God's sovereignty, and what it's like, as a priest, to help foster a church and world that is not founded on our fears and our fretting, but on our faith.

[Graham Heslop]

At points this book was exceptional offering warm, honest and very practical guidance for those in pastoral ministry that is undoubtedly the result of experience, meditating on biblical truth, and prayerful reflection on the Christian life. But at other points certain chapters created questions because of scant theological grounding or solid exegesis. Obviously that wasn't the purpose of this book, which was immensely encouraging, so the criticism might be unwarranted. However the book did seem to run out of steam, with the first few chapters offering excellent insights into the pastorate and the last few degenerating into a meander. If you're interested but suspicious of the "priest" language, start with the last chapter

[Robbo]

While generally aimed at the person seeking ordination to be a priest or deacon, this book would also be applicable for anyone wondering about ministry in general. Overall a good read, and short enough (112 pages) to be consumed in one sitting.

[Toby]

This book is now so many decades old and Christian ministry has changed so much, that it should possibly be retitled "The Christian Priest Yesterday". Even so, there are many truths in this little volume that remain unchanged, even in the world of Mission Action Planning and the Talent Pool.