Ray Van Neste

How do you understand pastoral ministry? What is the centre of your calling as a pastor? Is it difficult for your people to speak directly with you? Do you know your sheep? Do they know you? Are you really shepherding God's flock as you have been called to by the Great Shepherd, Jesus himself? In this book, Ray Van Neste looks to God's Word and church history to show that the oversight of souls is to be the very heart of pastoral ministry. The author of Hebrews writes that congregants are to: "Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account" (Hebrews 13:17). This guarding, shepherding and watching over souls requires knowledge of and meaningful engagement with the sheep and seeing them as "very dear to us" (1 Thessalonians 2:8), with the goal to "present everyone mature in Christ" (Colossians 1:28). Caring for people is not just a part of pastoral ministry, it is its heart. Van Neste shows how ministering the Word means not only preaching but privately teaching and exhorting individuals, praying for and with them, knowing them, as Jesus and his disciples both taught and exemplified. Pastors, prepare to be challenged and encouraged-and perhaps refocused-in your ministries

At Union University, every student majoring in the School of Theology & Missions takes a capstone course called Senior Seminar. The course provides students the opportunity to take all of the research and writing skills that they have honed over several years and apply those to a large research project. We don't do this because we think every student will become a research scholar; rather, we do this because we believe the skills that students build for researching and writing well are skills that transfer to being thoughtful servants of God in any setting. To research well, to write well, is an excellent preparation for thinking well and-Lord willing-living and serving well. Our School also enjoys a close relationship with Union's Honors Community under the direction of Scott Huelin. Students throughout the university have the opportunity to pursue "Discipline-Specific Honors," which allows them to work closely with faculty in their major to write a thesis. Mark Dubis guides the DSH program for the School of Theology & Missions. Students voluntarily increase their workload in four major courses-Senior Seminar being the final one-to do thesis research over the course of several semesters. In Senior Seminar, these students produce their honors thesis. What you hold in your hand are some of the finest fruits of these labors over the years. We are in general proud of our students and their work, but these research essays rise to the top. We have gathered them here to honor the work of these students and their faculty mentors. Yet these volumes of essays do more than honor work done. They also commend to you, our readers, the scholarly value of the product. In short, our students do great work, and others should benefit from that work.