Gary Neal Hansen

Theology. It's good for you.

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You are here: Home / Archives for Seminary

Letters to a Young Pastor: Preaching Good Friday and the Seven “Words” from the Cross

April 4, 2019 by Gary Neal Hansen Leave a Comment

Dear ______: Hey, it is GREAT that you got invited to be one of the preachers at your town’s ecumenical Good Friday service. I know it makes you nervous. Nerves are okay — in part it means you take preaching the Word seriously. Preaching Good Friday You mention that it makes you more nervous than […]

Filed Under: Church Year, Ministry, Seminary, Worship Tagged With: Preaching Good Friday, Seven Last Words of Jesus, Seven Words from the Cross

Letters to a Young Pastor: Dealing with Stress

January 17, 2019 by Gary Neal Hansen Leave a Comment

dealing with stress

Dear ______: You are absolutely right: It has been far too long since we’ve written to each other. Thanks for the update on your life in this final year of seminary. It does sound really stressful. You probably feel like the weight of the whole world is on your shoulders — like poor old Atlas. […]

Filed Under: Ministry, Prayer, Seminary Tagged With: Dealing with Stress, Jesus Prayer, Letters to a Young Pastor

Letters to a Young Pastor: Choosing a Field Education Placement (part 2)

September 6, 2018 by Gary Neal Hansen Leave a Comment

field education

Dear ______: Okay, glad to hear that you are closing in on a Field Education position for the coming term. I promised to write again with a couple further thoughts, so here you go. Choosing a field education position, take two Last time I recommended making sure you serve in both a large church and […]

Filed Under: Ministry, Seminary Tagged With: Field Education, healthy church

Letters to a Young Pastor: Choosing a Field Education Placement

August 30, 2018 by Gary Neal Hansen 1 Comment

field education

Dear ______: I’m glad that you have reached the point in your seminary education that you are having to think about field education. I don’t know what your seminary requires, but hopefully you will have to do at least two placements. Why two? Because your education will be more complete if you can see and practice […]

Filed Under: Ministry, Seminary Tagged With: Field Education, Letters to a Young Pastor

The Base Hit Sermon (Letters to a Young Pastor)

July 6, 2017 by Gary Neal Hansen 5 Comments

Dear ______: Thanks for your note, which brings me back to the topic at hand: preaching. And baseball. A couple of letters ago I was musing about the “home run” sermon you heard from a famous preacher. I suggested that when you step into a pulpit, hitting a home run is not really a great […]

Filed Under: Ministry, Seminary Tagged With: base hit sermon, baseball, preaching, Ty Cobb

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Theology. It’s good for you.

I'm a Church historian by trade. My writing, speaking, and teaching explores the Christian past to equip today's disciples. Join me here for regular posts on the best of theology, spirituality, community, and ministry. read more…

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