BOB ABERNETHY, anchor: Now, a profile of writer and preacher Frederick Buechner. He's an ordained Presbyterian minister, but has never pastored a church and rarely attends one. His ministry is his writing: 32 novels and memoirs so far, and some sermons, as a guest preacher, many of which are in a new book, SECRETS IN THE DARK.

Buechner and his wife live on a hilltop in Vermont, in what he calls "fathomless obscurity." But for many Christians he's a celebrity. At an appearance at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan, a Christian school, a huge turnout to hear Buechner say he still feels, as he once said, that seeking ordination is the worst possible career move for a writer.

Reverend FREDERICK BUECHNER: (Author, SECRETS IN THE DARK) (Speaking to Audience at Calvin College): Oh yes, I do, I do indeed. Supposing you were the Reverend John Irving, the Reverend Stephen King, the Reverend Joyce Carol Oates -- who would touch it with a 20-foot pole?

ABERNETHY: So how does Buechner write?

Rev. BUECHNER (Speaking to Audience at Calvin College): I have tried to be as honest as I can be to my own experience: what it's like to be alive on this planet. With a particular eye cocked to, a particular ear cocked to the elusive, ambiguous presence of God.

ABERNETHY: And he's glad he was ordained.

Rev. BUECHNER (Speaking to Audience at Calvin College): I wouldn't have not been ordained for anything in the world. It gave me my passion. It set me on a path. It took me places I never would have found my way to any other way.

ABERNETHY: Recently, another tribute to Buechner at the Washington National Cathedral.

Very Reverend SAMUEL LLOYD (Dean, Washington National Cathedral): We offer you thanks and praise this night for the life and ministry of Frederick Buechner.

ABERNETHY: Some of the country's greatest preachers praised Buechner and acknowledged their debt for all they had borrowed from him.

Reverend THOMAS LONG (Emory University): We are celebrating the ministry tonight of one whose eloquence has been imitated by all of us who dare to climb into the pulpit.

Reverend BARBARA BROWN TAYLOR (Piedmont College): From you I have learned that it's only when I give my full attention to what it means to be human that I am granted a glimpse of what it means to be divine.

ABERNETHY: One reason for Buechner's popularity is the underlying theme of all his writing.

Rev. BUECHNER: Listen to your life. Pay attention. Pay attention to what happens to you.

ABERNETHY: And then what comes from that?

Rev. BUECHNER: Who knows? Who knows? Maybe nothing much, but maybe the secret of all secrets you need to hear may come through some event, something that happens or fails to happen.

ABERNETHY: Often, Buechner reveals a mystical side.

Rev. BUECHNER: What makes me a believer is that from time to time, there have been glimpses I've had which have made me suspect the presence of something extraordinary and beyond the realm of the immediate. You encounter the holy in various forms, which, unless you have your eyes open, you might not even notice.

ABERNETHY: At the National Cathedral discussion, Buechner advised pastors to tell the truth and speak in their own voice, out of their own experience. In our conversation he also described what he thinks people in church most want to hear.

Rev. BUECHNER: Is it true? Is it -- can it be true that there is a God who is loving and wise and powerful? Every congregation I address I always try, in some way or another, to answer the question. Often the sign of it is tears in your eyes. It means you are in touch with something profoundly important, profoundly human, profoundly holy. That's what I try to do in my preaching.

ABERNETHY: Many people tell Buechner he has succeeded.

Rev. BUECHNER: Something I have touched upon, something that has touched me, and through me them, that has saved their life. And that's something I love more than anything else to do.

ABERNETHY: I asked Buechner what advice he gives young people seeking a career.