The Pastor as Midwife

<p><strong>Lessons from Midwives for Pastoral Leadership </strong></p><p>We find ourselves in a moment in which the church is in great pain. Congregations are dwindling, denominations are fracturing, and church scandals have become all too common. <strong>We need a new imagination to capture the hopefulness of God birthing something new in the midst of the pain of the old creation. </strong></p><p>In <em>The Pastor as Midwife</em>, Shawna Songer Gaines brings her pastoral experience alongside her research on the vocation and practices of midwifery to explore a vision of pastoral leadership that is shaped by the wisdom of those who walk alongside expectant mothers. Learning to pastor like a midwife helps us embrace what God is doing in our pain and see new life in unlikely places. </p><p>This book gives pastors a ministry paradigm that embraces change and pain as part of God's salvific work in the world. Gaines helps pastors embrace a new, life-giving posture for ministry marked by advocacy, listening, and letting go of control. Like the apostle Paul in Romans 8:22, pastors who long to witness the birth of God's new creation are invited to imagine their work like a hopeful midwife. </p><p><strong>With <em>The Pastor as Midwife</em>, you will: </strong></p><ul><li>learn how the practices and wisdom of midwives offer a new way of approaching pastoral leadership, a way that begins and ends with a hopeful view of God's work in birthing new creation; </li><li>engage with thought-provoking reflection questions to explore your own leadership patterns; and </li><li>reenvision ministry to see change and pain as integral to God's life-giving work in the world. </li></ul><p></p><p>Wherever you are in your journey as a pastor, <em>The Pastor as Midwife</em> offers a thoughtful and hopeful perspective on ministry in a changing and often challenging world. Learn to witness and partner with God in the birth of new creation with <em>The Pastor as Midwife</em>, trusting in the Spiritof God who brings new life to a fallen but beautiful world. </p>