This little book – which can be read quite comfortably in a single sitting if you are undisturbed – challenges a number of assumptions that many Christians make about the call to the pastoral ministry. It is subtitled ‘Recovering the local church’s responsibility in the external call’, and this gives a key indication of the central thesis of the author. In many Christian traditions ‘the call’ has been equated with a subjective desire to preach and to pastor, a desire which it is hard to test or to question. But Croft places the emphasis firmly and biblically on the ‘external call’. It is the role of the local church to assess whether a man has the necessary spiritual character, maturity and gifts to be considered for this work. Moreover, the seminary or Bible college should not be viewed as the essential training ground for pastors; their role is subservient to that of the local churches from which men are sent.  If you are a pastor, an elder, or someone contemplating the pastoral ministry, read this book – or at least give careful thought to this issue. Sadly there are a number of men in pulpits who are effectively ‘self-appointed pastors’ and the churches from which they have been sent, or the churches in which they now minister, have never tested their suitability. The short time-span of many pastorates also backs up these concerns.

Paul Yeulett