Michael A. G. Haykin, Brian Croft, and James B. Carroll. Pastoral Friendship: The Forgotten Piece to a Persevering Ministry. Christian Focus, 2022. 160 pages.
Our individualistic culture is beginning to wake up to the necessary, neglected gift of friendship. Pastors are not immune to the effects of our modern loneliness epidemic. The absence of true friendship contributes to the increasing rate of pastors who fizzle out, fall out through sin, or struggle through without joy.
In light of this, we welcome the book Pastoral Friendship for directly addressing this issue.
PASTOR-TO-PASTOR FRIENDSHIP
Pastoral Friendship is written by three authors—Michael Haykin, Brian Croft, and James Carroll—to encourage pastors to pursue friendship together. They argue that pastors don’t just need any friendship, but “pastor-to-pastor friendship” and that “pastoral friendship is the forgotten piece to a persevering ministry” (15). This kind of friendship helps pastors care for their souls so they might be faithful and fruitful in long-term ministry (19). In their words, “Every modern pastor needs the presence and friendship of other pastors to thrive and persevere through the unique challenges of pastoral ministry” (17).
They unfold their argument in a well-rounded manner. They first look back to examples of friendship
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