In the next session of the course Supervised Ministry Practicum, this is the chosen textbook:  Social Ministry, An Urgent Agenda for Pastors and Churches by Haskell M. Miller.

I have completed reading this book and have found it to be an easy, practical and accessible read.  What troubles me, however, is Chapter 9 entitled ‘Areas of Day-to-Day Concern’.  What is presented in this chapter is insulting, biased, inflammatory, and misinformed.  I find it truly unfortunate that this publication was not previewed because the information and the way that it is presented could be harmful and misleading for anyone who does not necessarily have the background or previous exposure to these ‘areas of day-to-day concern’ such as alcohol, gambling, abortion, homosexuality, family life, at-risk youth etc.  Further, some of the contexts that we provide ministry in, for example the rural environment, will not relate or fit with the concerns in the same way as the urban environment will.

Just my thoughts…  I will look forward to hearing what my peers think!