Reflection Questions

1. What influences have shaped the way you view your pastoral ministry? What skills have you developed in response to these influences?



2. Dykstra points to the importance of both substantive knowledge and practical know-how for developing the pastoral imagination. Reading, observation, and experience ground a pastor theologically—as well as provide insight into human psychology, organizational structures, and larger communities. What readings, observations, and experiences have most contributed to your "multiple intelligences," and why?



3. Pastoral ministry is "overwhelming," says Dykstra. And while we can feel inadequate in the face of being overwhelmed, we can also "take on an identity shaped by the overwhelmings of creation, death, resurrection, and the Holy Spirit." What does "overwhelming" mean for you? How do you respond?



4. As children learning to swim must first trust in the buoyancy of the water, so we are called to trust in God's "buoyancy"—God's grace, love, and mercy. How has your ministry been transformed by a larger trust in God's presence?



5. Do you agree with Dykstra that "it is the congregation's ecclesial imagination that over time gives rise to the pastor's pastoral imagination"? If so, what are the elements of this ecclesial imagination that have most enriched and informed your ministry?



6. Dykstra says that "Pastoral work is first and foremost the work of enabling, teaching, helping, guiding, and encouraging a specific community to practice Christian faith themselves." He also says that such work can best go forward when pastors trust in God and are no longer driven by compulsive striving. What practices have deepened your own trust in God? How might you encourage these or related practices in your congregation?