In an age in which the office of the keys has come to be viewed as one function among many in the lite of the churrl and talk about 'calling has given way to clamor for 'rights, Carl Volz's judicious study of the theory and practice of ministry in the early church is fresh and stimulating. There is more to learn here about the ministry than one will find in a halt-dozen how to books or sociological monographs. Almost every topic that is part of current discussion of ministry apipears somewhere in these pages: good order, an exemplary life ordination, the role of bishops, ministry and community, preaching (with long citations from sermonst, the care of souls, the pastoral role of women.