December 2024 Ordained Servant

From the Editor. Poetry is always on my mind. It is a special treat to have Craig Troxel write about poetry and the heart in preaching the Psalms. As a former pastor of two congregations, presently a professor of homiletics, and a lover of good literature, his thoughts should be very instructive for preachers. He promises a follow-up article on preaching Christ from the Psalms.

I offer my reflections of poetry, poets, and historical theology, “How Did You Become a Poet?” and the way both are constructed on the history of their respective disciplines and craft.

John Mallin gives us the second and last part of “The Clerk and His Work.” He has served as stated clerk of the Presbytery of Connecticut and Southern New York for more than twenty years. He covers the work of clerks of sessions, presbyteries, and general assemblies. This should serve as a helpful manual for years to come.

Bryan Estelle reviews Marilynne Robinson’s bestselling new book Reading Genesis in his review article “A Beautiful Mind and Pen at work Reading the Book of Genesis.” Here is a Pulitzer Prize winning American author (Gilead, a novel, 2004) taking Genesis seriously. This is a very illuminating review.

Shane Lems reviews The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness by Jonathan Haidt. This is a disturbing book on the dangers of the “phone-based childhood.” It is also a good example of why Christians should read widely outside of our Christian circles.

Mark Green reviews another gorgeous anthology by Leland Ryken: A Treasury of Nature: Illustrated Poetry, Prose, and Praise. Ryken’s choice of poetry along with his sagacious commentary gives us another treasure of his literary legacy. The illustrations and artwork chosen by the editors are superb. This would make a wonderful Christmas gift.

Our poem this month is by a favorite, Robert Herrick (1591–1674): “To My Sweet Saviour.” Educated at Cambridge University, Herrick was mentored by Ben Jonson. Herrick became the pastor of the Anglican church in Devonshire. Literary critic Harold Bloom observes that unlike the Metaphysical poets like John Donne, “Herrick charmingly transmutes his classical models—Horace, Catullus, the Greek Anthology—into a Devonshire pastoral poetry.”[1] He was also somewhat unique in publishing his sacred devotional poetry (Noble Numbers, 1648) separately from his secular love poetry (Hesperides, 1648).

The cover is my drawing for my 1994 Christmas card—a whimsical view of an antique Christmas, when worship trumped consuming.

Blessings in the Lamb,
Gregory Edward Reynolds

FROM THE ARCHIVES “PREACHING, POETRY”
/OS/pdf/Subject_Index.pdf

• “Preaching and Poetry: Learning the Power of Speech” (Gregory Edward Reynolds) 16 (2007): 17–22.
• “The Power of Poetry for Preaching and Enjoyment” (Gregory Edward Reynolds) 30 (2021): 20–25.

Ordained Servant exists to help encourage, inform, and equip church officers for faithful, effective, and God-glorifying ministry in the visible church of the Lord Jesus Christ. Its primary audience is ministers, elders, and deacons of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church, as well as interested officers from other Presbyterian and Reformed churches. Through high-quality editorials, articles, and book reviews, we will endeavor to stimulate clear thinking and the consistent practice of historic, confessional Presbyterianism.

[1] Harold Bloom, The Best Poems of the English Language: From Chaucer through Frost (New York: HarperCollins, 2004), 157.