"A great deal of confusion exists today as to what pastors are to be," Lawrence writes. "Are they chaplains, CEO's, preachers, managers, or counselors? Paul gave us the answer long ago: They are to be equippers, disciple-makers." Just as the great artist Michelangelo took a chipped and flawed piece of marble and transformed it into a masterful sculpture of David, so does a pastor with his flock. "This is pastoring," writes Lawrence, "serving as sculptors of souls."

This booklet is a Christmas gift to our children and their children. It is a passing along of the faith that we share, short reflections on each prayer, and the prayers that have influenced Christians throughout the ages. The prayers, of course, are not original work at all. The prayers are themselves reflections upon struggles with God during difficult times, the product of profound thought, and even the Gospel by such wonderful teachers as Saint Francis of Assisi, Reinhold Niebuhr, and Jesus of Nazareth.