Reflections from Doug Basler, a Living Legacy Grant Recipient
In April of 2024, I was awarded a Doctor of Ministry degree in the Sacred Art of Writing at the Eugene Peterson Center for Christian Imagination at Western Theological Seminary in Holland, Michigan.
In addition to continuing education funds from Union Park Presbyterian Church and First Presbyterian Church of Grimes, I received three grants from the Living Legacy Funds from Des Moines Presbytery which made this program financially possible. I am grateful to the Presbytery for its commitment to support the continuing education of the clergy and lay-leadership.
During the three year program, we had 5 residencies at Western in Holland and one overseas trip for a Writer’s Tour of Britain that included stops in Edinburgh, The Holy Island of Lindisfarne, the Lake District, Stratford-upon-Avon, Oxford and London.
This D.Min program is unique, in that it was intended for writers and focused on the craft of writing. About half of our cohort consisted of pastors and the other half of the cohort consisted of counselors, social workers, professional journalists/writers, and other types of vocational ministry. This diversity made for a wonderful experience. As is often the case, while the program itself was wonderful, the connections and relationships with the cohort made the program what it was. The writing projects ranged from novels, to collections of essays, to poetry, to memoir, and even one YA novel, in verse, about the woman of Endor story from First Samuel.
My project was entitled “Novelists as Friends: Reading Literature for Pastoral Formation.” The phrase “novelists as friends” comes from a quote from Eugene Peterson where he advises pastors to read novels as part of our vocational formation. I wrote ten essays, each stemming from a contemporary novel, that were part book review, part pastoral theology, and part memoir. Two abridged versions of my essays were published in 2023 in the Presbyterian Outlook and Ekstasis magazine. Here is my abstract from the project:
The essays in this project are reflections on reading literature as a means of pastoral formation. A pastoral imagination is developed through a variety of means. Sustained study of Scripture, reflection on Biblical metaphors, gleanings from mentors, academic education, prior experience in church life and the process of preaching, teaching, counseling, sufferings and successes, prayer and spiritual disciplines are all at work in the shaping of a pastoral life. I am also convinced that the habit of reading great books has had a profound effect in shaping my understanding of the pastoral call and the development of my philosophy of ministry. Novelists, like pastors, care about people, places, words and stories. The best writers capture a glimpse of the human experience in their writing – the fears, hopes, triumphs, insecurities, longings, and idiosyncrasies that accompany real life. Eugene Peterson advised pastors to “welcome these novelists as friends, and to spend time in their company.” These essays are the result of spending time in the company of writers and learning from them. I chose ten works of fiction from my reading list over a two-year span. These essays are part book review, part memoir, and part pastoral theology. They are my attempt to show how fiction has shaped my pastoral imagination in ways that non-fiction, by itself, could not.
Learn more about Doug and his journey at https://www.douglasbasler.com/.
