Jason Byassee, a fellow in theology and leadership at Duke Divinity School, has co-edited a book of essays by scholar-pastors about the pastoral ministry of theological writer Eugene Peterson.

Pastoral Work: Engagements with the Vision of Eugene Peterson was published earlier this year by Cascade Books. Byassee, also the senior pastor of Boone United Methodist Church in Boone, N.C., co-edited the book with L. Roger Owens, associate professor of leadership and ministry at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary.

A pastor, scholar, author, and poet, Peterson has written more than 30 books and is best known for his book, The Message: The Bible in Contemporary Language. The book, which won a Gold Medallion Book Award, was written to make the Bible more accessible to the modern reader. He also wrote The Pastor: A Memoir.

In the book co-edited by Byassee, 16 noted scholar-pastors address “Pastor Pete's” influence on their calling and pastoral ministry.

“Eugene Peterson may be the most influential theological writer in the church today,” according to the publisher. “Yet because most of his career has not been in academia there is not much critical engagement with his work. Here some of the finest scholar-pastors we have describe the way Peterson has inspired and infuriated on the way to (hopefully) more faithful pastorates.”