As one of the most noted preachers and pastors in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America for nearly 50 years, Richard Boye has seen just about everything. And readers of these messages are the fortunate beneficiaries of his experience as he shares much of what he has "learned along the way." Both clergy and laity alike will find inspiration and many ideas in these distinctive messages, which Boye describes as being "the best of me." Those who are climbing the arduous slopes of contemporary ministry will discover that Boye's wisdom, accumulated from years of service in some of the most prominent Lutheran churches in the country and always rooted in the gospel, will be a great help and comfort as they chart their own course toward the summit. Among the many outstanding sermons in this volume is one that Boye preached at the ELCA's first churchwide assembly.

Richard E. Boye is a graduate of Wittenberg University and Hamma School of Theology. His pastoral career included service at congregations in Illinois, Pennsylvania, and North Carolina, and was crowned by a decade as senior pastor of Elim Lutheran Church in Robbinsdale, Minnesota, one of the ELCA's ten largest congregations. Now retired, Boye is based in Virginia, where he continues to preach and write.