Written by Winn Collier, Director of the Eugene Peterson Center and Associate Professor of Pastoral Theology and Christian Imagination.

Just because we can do something doesn’t mean we should do it. 

At the Peterson Center, we’re prayerfully asking God to help us nurture a way of being that is faithful, contemplative, joyful, holy, and deeply human. And goodness, do we have our work cut out for us. There are powerful, entrenched cultural forces arrayed against these simple hopes. Our frantically paced, ego-driven world insists we should clamor to be recognized; we should move lightning fast, and we should always be on the cutting edge. It’s assumed we must always have a quick, witty response in our back pocket—and a bullhorn at the ready. However, we believe that faithfulness means resisting these oppressive assumptions. We long for a better way.

What if, rather than increasing effectiveness, building a platform, or maximizing efficiency, our churches and neighborhoods really need friendship, humility, and wisdom? What if we are starved by our lack of curiosity? What if we need fewer words and more silence? What if our moment begs for courageous voices emerging out of a lifetime of fidelity rather than a reactionary impulse? What if we long to be people whose gifts emerge out of a posture of prayer and lament and hope? 

Eugene insisted that the American church thought too little about the way we go about doing our work, the way we live together and offer God’s wisdom to the world (as if the end result—like increasing members and offerings or “winning” a culture war—justified whatever the cost to get there). If we want to pursue a God-saturated life interwoven with relationships that ennoble human dignity and pursue the sacredness of God’s world and our place in it, then we need a way of going about this that doesn’t destroy our noble hopes in the process. We have to actually live the kind of life we want to nurture. We can’t create a beautiful world in ugly ways.

“The ways Jesus goes about loving and saving the world are personal,” Eugene insisted. “[N]othing disembodied, nothing abstract, nothing impersonal. Incarnate, flesh and blood, relational, particular, local.”

This is why, in our desire to be relational, to foster beauty and goodness and truth, the Peterson Center (at least for now) won’t be on social media. This isn’t a brittle rule from which we’ll never waver, but we long to be as human and slow and thoughtful as possible. You can, however, find us on our webpage (petersoncenter.org) and our email list—and we always welcome old-fashioned letters.

Our hope is to encourage faithful presence: tending to our gardens, opening conversations, paying attention to God, and bearing witness to all that is human and holy. And we’re convinced that this will mean less noise, less promotion, more listening, and more grace. 

 

This might sound unrealistic, but it’s my hope:  

I hope I can be part of changing the

pastoral imagination of American pastors.

—Eugene Peterson

Eugene H. Peterson might be best known for his award-winning paraphrase of the Bible, The Message: The Bible in Contemporary Language, but he was also a prolific writer of over 30 books, a Presbyterian pastor for 29 years, and a professor of spiritual theology for six years. Eugene Peterson had an immense influence across generational and denominational boundaries.

After Rev. Peterson died in 2018, his family sought to find a suitable site to steward the Peterson papers and archives and to promote his pastoral theology for future scholarship, the health of pastors, and the Church’s renewed imagination. Earlier this year, Western Theological Seminary was chosen to be that site.

According to his son, Rev. Eric Peterson, “WTS is the school that Eugene exclusively recommended to prospective students preparing to serve the church.” In 2010 Eugene said this: “It is everything I think a seminary needs to be—theologically focused, faculty accessible, personally relational, and God honoring. I never fail to feel at home there with its professors and students.”

Eugene Peterson’s relationship with the seminary goes back decades, beginning in the 1980’s when he taught at a Young Life Institute on campus. His friendship with WTS deepened in 1998 when Dr. Timothy Brown invited him to campus as the keynote speaker for the Henry Bast Festival of Preaching. In 2008 he returned to speak at Dr. Brown’s presidential inauguration and in 2014 he led the Bast Festival again.

The newly formed Eugene Peterson Center for Christian Imagination will house Eugene Peterson’s papers within the library archive collection in the Dewitt Learning Commons of Western. The collection will include diaries, thousands of letters, sermons, book manuscripts, Regent College teaching material, and extensive documentation related to the translation of The Message.

The Peterson Center will be a hub where people can contemplate questions that shaped Eugene’s Christian imagination over a lifetime, such as:  Why is an animated, Spirit-infused imagination essential if we are to persevere in living our faith amid the grit and beauty of ordinary life?

Through small, relational cohorts, fellowships, theological reflection, retreats, pilgrimages, public conversations, and artistic collaborations, the Peterson Center will provide space and opportunity to ponder these questions with humility, friendship, and generosity in order to embolden the Church’s hopeful, faithful presence in the world.

“My hope is that these intentional spaces will help a diverse array of Christians cultivate the joyful, creative and steadfast character that the world and church so desperately need,” says Dr. Winn Collier, the newly appointed director of the center.

Winn is the authorized biographer of Eugene Peterson, a long-time pastor, and the author of numerous books. With his deep roots in pastoral ministry, his intimate knowledge of Eugene Peterson’s life and ministry, and his own writing and research, Winn holds the right combination of gifts, callings, and expertise to bring this center to life. He joined the WTS community in August as Director of the Eugene Peterson Center and Associate Professor of Pastoral Theology and Christian Imagination.

The relationship between the two men began 16 years ago when Winn realized he and Eugene Peterson shared the same publisher, so he twisted his editor’s arm to give him Dr. Peterson’s address. He wrote him a letter, and they began to correspond. Winn was so determined to meet Eugene in person that when he learned of a spiritual renewal weekend Dr. Peterson was co-leading with his son in Juneau, Alaska, he flew over 4000 miles for the opportunity to have breakfast with him.

“Over huevos rancheros and coffee, I grilled him mercilessly,” Winn says with a grin. “In the years that followed, he became my pastor, writing letters from Montana.”

Their friendship led to Winn being chosen to write the authorized biography of Eugene’s life entitled, A Burning in My Bones, due to come out next March (see below).

Winn has been a pastor for 25 years and was the founding pastor of All Souls in Charlottesville, VA for 12 years. He had every intention of retiring from All Souls, which he describes as “a beautiful community of faithful, honest friends.”

“It was a hard decision to leave, but there were so many signals that this was something God was doing—and the Holy Spirit opened up possibilities so quickly. It certainly seemed to my wife, Miska, and me that this was a clear invitation from God,” says Winn. “It’s exciting and makes me wonder what God has in store here.”

The Peterson archives will be installed at the seminary in early 2021. Later next year, two D.Min. cohorts will be offered through the Center, one exploring pastoral imagination and the other centered on writing. Due to the pandemic, the timing for other gatherings and public offerings remains in flux. Stay tuned!

TO BE RELEASED MARCH 2021

Winn Collier was given exclusive access to Eugene Peterson and his materials to produce this landmark work. Drawing from his friendship and expansive view of Peterson’s ministry, Winn offers an intimate, beautiful, and earthy look into a remarkable life.

Encounter one of the most influential and creative pastors of the past half century with unforgettable stories of Eugene’s lifelong devotion to his craft and love of language, the influences and experiences that shaped his unquenchable faith, the inspiration for his decision to translate The Message, and his success and struggles as a pastor, husband, and father.

NOVEMBER SPECIAL OFFER FROM THE PUBLISHER

Waterbook/Penguin Random House is giving WTS Commons readers a special offer. Pre-order A Burning in My Bones and receive a free trade paper copy of As Kingfishers Catch Fire (by Eugene Peterson).

Limited quantities available, limited time offer ends November 30, 2020.

Both books will be mailed to you in March 2021 when A Burning in My Bones is released.

GO TO:  https://bit.ly/37vJwds