How long does it take to read The Contemplative Pastor?
returning to the art of spiritual direction
The Contemplative Pastor by Eugene H. Peterson takes about 3 hours 11 minutes to read at 250 words a minute.
About 3 hours 11 minutes
A weekend read
First published 1989. 174 pages, about 47,850 words.
7 days at 30 minutes a day
Estimate based on 275 words per page.
At other speeds
| Slow, 150 words a minute | 5 hours 19 minutes |
| Average, 250 words a minute | 3 hours 11 minutes |
| Fast, 400 words a minute | 2 hours |
The page count is the median across 2 editions, so your copy may differ. How we calculate.
About the book
Any pastor who needs and wants to get back to basics will do well to absorb this book. Eugene Peterson, well known as "a pastor's pastor," here speaks words of wisdom and refreshment for pastors caught in the busyness of preaching, teaching, and "running the church." In The Contemplative Pastor Peterson highlights the often-overlooked essentials of ministry, first by redefining the meaning of pastor through three strengthening adjectives: unbusy, subversive, andapocalyptic. The main part of the book focuses on pastoral ministry and spiritual direction "between Sundays": these chapters begin with poetic reflections on the Beatitudes and then discuss such themes as curing souls, praying with eyes open, the language of prayer, the ministry of small talk, and sabbatical--all with engaging, illustrative anecdotes from Peterson's own experience. The book ends with several meaning-full poems that pivot on the incarnation, the doctrine closest to pastoral work. Entitled "The Word Made Fresh," this concluding section is a felicitous finale to Peterson's discerning, down-to-earth reflections on the art of pastoring.
Subjects: Office, Spiritual direction, American Christian poetry, Clergy, Pastoral theology, Spiritualiteit
