52 Books in 52 Weeks: Book #1- Becoming a Pastor: Forming Self and Soul for Ministry

Hamman, Jaco J. Becoming a Pastor: Forming Self and Soul for Ministry. Cleveland: The Pilgrim Press, 2007.

One of my goals for 2011, which I guess you could call my New Year's Resolutions, is to read at least 52 books this year. This will include many of the books I had a summer reading last a few years ago that I never got around to. I now have the opportunity to read whatever I want, and only what I want, which hasn't been the case in my life for quite sometime, especially not in the last seven years.

The first book I read in 2011 was Jaco Hammon's Becoming a Pastor. It was one of a slew of books I got from the local library to try to learn a little more about the practical side of being a pastor. Hamman is a native of South Africa and the associate professor of pastoral care and counseling at Western Theological Seminary in Holland, Michigan. In his book, he discusses six capacities he feels are necessary for one to be a "becoming pastor":

1. The Capacity to Believe
2. The Capacity to Imagine
3. The Capacity for Concern
4. The Capacity to Be Alone
5. The Capacity to Use Others and to be Used
6. The Capacity to Play

Hammon draws heavily from the writing of Donald Woods Winnicott, and because of this, the capacities aren't as straightforward as they might appear. Winnicott liked to take ordinary language and use it in a slightly different way. Because of this, I found the book to be quite technical and I wish that had been more practical. However, I would recommend it for anyone that in pastoral ministry that has a good background in psychology.

Next book up: The Hobbit, J.R.R. Tolkein