Eugene Peterson interview: The Relationally-Grounded Pastor

And these are just the first two questions of the interview!

great pic, from a different interview here

When you look at the state of the pastoral vocation, what concerns you?

One of the things that distresses me most is how much ambition there is. I'm alarmed that we measure things by what the world counts as important. We've lost a scriptural imagination, I fear. It's so important for pastors to understand the Trinity, because it shows that God is totally relational. There's no part of the Godhead that isn't in relationship to the other parts and with us. If we don't saturate ourselves in that relational reality, the values in this world just crowd in on us.

How did your parishioners shape the way you saw your role as a pastor?

They treated me as a person of prayer, as a person of conversation. When they would come to me with a problem, I really wouldn't deal with the problem. I got them talking about their lives in different ways, and it's surprising how many times, after two or three times together, there was no problem. They thought the problem was the only way they could get my attention. And when it didn't get my attention, at least not in the way they thought, then the conversations would get deeper and more intimate. I think because of the culture we live in, we almost have to disappoint people, at least at the outset, in order to get them to understand who we are and what we're doing.....  link