James J Moser

One Stone Unturned James J Moser

Since retiring from pastoral ministry, I have spent years reflecting on the role I enacted, the office I fulfilled, and simply, what I did during all those years. No longer having a stole to bear, nor a church board to answer to, nor an investment in the outcome of open-ended questions of theology, this post-retirement journey has led me to overturn stones of previous assumptions. Under these stones of under-critiqued and under-digested default notions of ministry and theology I have found surprises. Some are startling, some are disturbing, some are troubling, and some are frightening, though some are reassuring, and many are very liberating. The process has been enlightening, energizing, and emancipating. This book is an excursion through my process of debriefing and deconstructing a career in ministry while constantly, and still, seeking "truth." Not institutional truth or dogmatic truth; what I seek is what Joseph Campbell called "truth beyond truth."