My first memory of the guy is how dignified he looked while walking his dogs. Louis Weeks was the president of Union-PSCE while I attended there. He certainly looked the part. Wasp-y. Distinguished looking grey hair parted on the side. Always dressed like he just stepped out of an Orvis catalogue. When I first saw him, I thought, man, this guy really looks the part.
It didn't take long for my initial positive impression to change to one of dissappointment. Maybe it was his thick southern accent. Or perhaps it was the fact that he never learned my name despite having met him many times. Or maybe it was how he ran the school. I can't remember exactly why he annoyed me so much, but I was definitely not a fan.
That's why my enthusiasm for his new book is so strange. It is strange because not only am I not a fan, I am even less fond of church administration. Let's face it, administration is not the reason anyone goes to seminary. This is not the call they are answering. "My child, please serve me...in endless committee meetings."
Yet, I have come to discover that this is what actual day to day ministry entails. Ministry consists of thousands of little decisions and projects that in the midst of them don't seem very holy or meaningful. These are the jobs that Weeks calls "scutwork" and the ones that he holds up as vital for church workers to reclaim.
For a nice teaser of Weeks' argument, check out his short piece in the January 27, 2009 issue of the Christian Century. The book this article is promoting is called All for God's Glory: Redeeming Church Scutwork. It is published by Alban.
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