If you meet George Herbert on the road, kill him: Radically Re-Thinking Priestly Ministry

(Paperback)

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Priestly ministry in the Church of England needs a radical rethink...
George Herbert died in 1633. His legacy continues. His poems are read and sung, and his parish ministry remains the model for the Church of England's understanding of how and where and why its priests should minister. But there is a problem. The memory of Herbert celebrated by the Church is an inaccurate one, and, in its inaccuracy, is unfair on Herbert himself and his successors in the ordained ministry.
This is a book of the long view. It sets out to assess realistically the context of Herbert's life and to explore the difficulties of parish life today. By examining the status and role of parish clergy since Herbert's time and today, it draws on the work of historians, social anthropologists, psychologists and theologians, and presents their ideas in a readable and passionate style. It argues that the future strength of parochial ministry will be found in a recovery of historic, renewed understandings of priestly ministry, and concludes by outlining more sustainable patterns of practice for the future.
In a climate of uncertainty for the future of the church, it will be an encouragement for priest and people, and welcomed by both.

Reviews

"Justin Lewis-Anthony plumbs a plethora of sources...and deploys anecdotal evidence to pleasing effect."www.portsmouthcathedral.org.uk/documents/Sep09Newsletter.pdf
"...a well-informed account of Herbert in context...good to be reintroduced to the giants...full of good material...enjoys an attractive, opinionated style...has a gift for sharp anecdotes...presents a helpful range of authorities..." Church Times, September 2009
"What kept me reading was the skilful way in which the author used the writings of such as Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Michael Ramsey, Vincent Donovan and others to make his case." Baptist Times, September 2009
"Justin Lewis-Anthony's If you meet George Herbert on the Road, Kill Him is the latest and, no mean feat, by far the best. ... Justin's excellent book does not play this how-to game, although it does end up talking Turkey...This book is a vastly intelligent, compassionate, understanding and helpful resource." Bishop Alan's Blog, November 2009
'A very sympathetic [view] of Herbert's life and an appreciation of his verse. He also follows this with a a solid history of the clergy in the eighteenth, nineteenth and twentieth centuries' Parson & Parish, Summer 2010
"A witty, well-intentioned book. Behind its conclusions there are sophisticated analyses of any number of theological and sociological ideas" -- Jonathan Wright * Catholic Herald *

Author Bio

Justin Lewis-Anthony is Rector of St Stephen's Church, Canterbury, and Associate Lecturer in the European Cultures and Languages Section of the University of Kent at Canterbury. Formerly Precentor of Christ Church, Oxford, he has lectured, and led retreats, on film, popular culture and theology, and pastoralia in Canterbury, Oxford, Salisbury, London, Exeter, Chelmsford, St Albans, St Deiniol's Library, and North America.