Clothed in Christ: Toward a Spirituality for Lay Ministers

Author: Fr William Graham

6 X 9" -- 176 pages

Highly recommended for all parish ministers, DREs, and parish leadership teams.

People in lay ministry know its joys and challenges well--and Father Graham offers guidance and inspiration for developing a spirituality based on these joys and challenges. He focuses on Jesus as a model and the church's liturgy and traditions as guides that sustain and invigorate those who serve as lay ministers today.

In particular, Father Graham reflects with lay ministers on the many components that comprise a "spirituality" for them, and he shares many of his own experiences, joys, and frustrations in ministry as examples of efforts to keep spiritually balanced. He also offers tips and principles about how to work more effectively, with greater joy and less stress.

At times he focuses on what people need from their pastoral ministers, and at times about the needs and frustrations of the ministers themselves. These two issues, serving others and keeping balance in one's own life, are inseparable and both are key to developing a spirituality that works for pastoral ministry.

William C. Graham, a priest of the Diocese of Duluth in Minnesota where he served for ten years as a pastor, is professor of Theology and Religious Studies and director of the emerging Catholic Studies program at Duluth's College of Scholastica.