Since its release this summer, The Care of Souls has been praised by many. It’s more than a manual for church leadership or strategy, it’s a beautifully written treasury of pastoral wisdom born from years of experience. Michael A. G. Haykin calls it “an enormously helpful work,” and Matthew C. Harrison says it’s “an instant classic.”
This acclaimed title has now added two Book of the Year Awards to its accolades.
2020 Christianity Today Book Award Winner in Church/Pastoral Leadership
“I will be returning to this book again, to read it carefully and slowly. The rhythms and the wisdom in The Care of Souls reminded me of the books by Eugene Peterson that shaped my soul as a young pastor. Senkbeil’s images and analogies aren’t drawn from boardrooms but from agrarian themes of shepherding, sheep dogs, and farming, all of which are far closer not only to biblical images but also to the realities of pastoral life, in which anything good grows slowly and follows the contours of a particular place. Many books on pastoral ministry convey information; this book renewed my joy in being a pastor and, every once in a while, traced a tear at the corner of my eye.”
2019 The Gospel Coalition Ministry Book of the Year
“Preaching typically gets the most ink under the category of pastoral ministry, but there’s far more to shepherding a congregation than writing and executing sermons—important as that work is. Harold Senkbeil has spent five decades preaching, but also shepherding the people of God, and The Care of Souls is a product of wisdom treasured up during his half-century in local church ministry. Having grown up on a dairy farm in the Midwest, Senkbeil builds this compelling manual for loving church members around insights gained taking care of animals and crops. The result is a well-written book on shepherding that gives equal time to the care of souls and the pastor’s own pursuit of holiness. This will be a must-read for young pastors for years to come. ”
Congratulations Hal Senkbeil!
