Ministry Leadership

In "The Ministry of the District," embark on a transformative journey through the heart of ecclesiastical leadership. This groundbreaking guide unveils four pivotal objectives that redefine the landscape of district ministry. Objective A beckons districts to Foster Collaborative Ministry, transcending boundaries to create a tapestry of shared resources and strengths. Objective B, Enhancing Fellowship, paints a picture of interconnected churches, bound by unity, love, and a shared sense of purpose. As you delve into Objective C, Empowering Pastors and Churches, witness the transformative ...

Pastors and ministry leaders are some of the hardest-working people in the world—and they have the high rate of burnout to prove it. As a leader, if you aren't operating at peak efficiency and taking care of yourself, it is bound to catch up with you in a big way. So few in ministry feel they have the time to take a sabbatical or tend to their own physical, emotional, and spiritual needs. But healthy rhythms of work and rest are the key to a thriving, long-term ministry.

You're not alone in your ministry. And you don't have to suffer in silence. Ministry is a stressful vocation, with unspoken expectations, projected anxieties, and conflicting demands. After the pandemic caused a sudden shift to online worship and factions fighting over when and how to return to in-person worship, pastors have been leaving congregational ministry at even higher rates than usual. The emotional fallout of burnout and abuse at the hands of parishioners is something pastors carry for years, whether they stay or leave the congregation.

What do we call each other? It’s a deceptively simple question, because how we refer to one another is how we understand our relationships. Not recognizing the power of our words makes it harder for us to trust and serve one another―to love one another. In More than Christians, Norman Hubbard explores how the early church used common words in uncommon ways to make sense of their relationships with God and with one another. His research and contextualization of the cultural background to the New Testament is as practical for today as it is urgent.

The Garden in Eden was filled with fruit-producing trees, sprouting plants and grasses, and gently flowing rivers. Adam, G-d's chosen king/priest, was called to cultivate the garden's fertile soil, to guard the sacred space from external enemies, and to rule over the Earth. After breaking covenant with YHWH, his king, Adam was banished to the field, a place of thorns and thistles, where he became a slave to the earth. The Temple Revealed in the Garden: Priests and Kings examines the Garden story from an ancient Near East perspective.

Sloppy talk about Christianity has become an acceptable prejudice. Tired of Apologizing for a Church I Don't Belong To provides humorous yet knowledgeable commentary on the way religion is talked about today. Daniel explains Christian ideas and practices in non-academic, yet non-facile terms. In her signature style, she outlines four types of non-church-goers: no-longer, no-way, never-have, not-yet.

Leading Strategic Community Change explores the dynamics of leadership and strategic community change for churches and faith-based organizations. In doing so, it incorporates principles and practices from the fields of strategic planning, leadership, and organizational development. At the end of chapters there are exercises designed to reinforce the concepts discussed in the chapter. The appendices also include activities for churches and faith-based organizations to use with their congregations, boards, and executive ministry teams to develop a more effective plan for engaging the ...

In Reclaiming Church, J. J. Warren continues his call to reaffirm the Church be welcoming to all, including young people like those he led at Sarah Lawrence College who "didn't know God could love them because their churches said God didn't."

Leaders often rely too heavily on their limited intellect and logic in making God-honoring decisions. But, without exception, our intellect and logic are the problem, not the solution. Instead, consulting the One who is limitless when faced with important decisions will always bear better fruit. This is the heart of Deisensus-led decision-making! In Deisensus Leadership, Dr. Ron Crum implores leaders to appoint the Holy Spirit as their Master Decision-Maker and join their teams in a united effort to seek direction from Above in all things.

Church planting and revitalization is a unique ministry. Filled with its own challenges, pastors and church leaders have often struggled in their labors. Thankfully, the apostle Paul imparted his wisdom to his young disciple Titus through a brief, power-packed letter full of encouragement and instruction. In like manner, this collection of writings from seasoned pastors, planters, and church revitalizers contains hundreds of years of combined wisdom and experience. Dear Titus serves as a helpful companion for any church planter or leader at any stage of their ministry.

The world is a very different place from what it was just a few years ago. Today’s post-everything world is arguably more divisive, political, indifferent, and impatient than ever. While many believe that the best course of action is to find a way back to how things used to be, is that actually the best way forward? Given the many ways that our world has changed, it’s time for Christian leadership strategies to change, and for churches to approach making disciples, evangelism, and preaching differently than yesterday.

With characteristic humor and insight, author and pastor John Ortberg invites us to follow the biblical story of Esther and her example to courageously choose to embrace the mission God gives. Like Esther, we can lead without feareven in threatening circumstancesbecause we know God is always at work in unseen, unknown, and unlikely ways.

The Bible is rich with leadership gold. But we haven't mined it for all it's worth. Leaders know a lot about the Bible and a lot about leadership — separately. We haven't yet explored the depths of the Bible as a primary source for leadership insight. This book aims to change that.

Women comprise at least half the world, and usually more than half the church, but so often Christian teaching to women either fails to move beyond a discussion of roles or assumes a particular economic situation or stage of life. This all but shuts women out from contributing to God's kingdom as they were designed to do.

Ministry in modern society presents a perpetual assault on the pastor’s soul. Culture has changed, and the challenges of ministry have changed with it. Many new pastors are discovering that they’re ill-equipped to manage unexpected, soul-health tensions of ministry. Some are walking away, and others are choosing to not enter the pastorate despite a sense of God’s calling.

If you are a Christian leader in either ministry or business—the eternal revolutionary truths revealed in this book make it a manual for success you cannot afford to pass by. In God we trust? I believe the greatest need in the world is seasoned Christian leaders, who honestly care about the people they lead and the impact they have on their communities and society as a whole. Yet, in many cases there has been a great disconnect between successful business leaders and the local churches they attend.

This book is NOT a How to Build a Big Church manual. It is a call to a more spiritually healthy church and Christian life. The author performs a spiritual autopsy from head to toe on an imaginary dead church. Hundreds of Bible verses are used as a sharp scalpel exposing potential killers of the contemporary church. Creative and challenging insights will help you and your church avoid the spiritual obituaries.

The Church Who Hears God's Voice provides church leaders and Christian thinkers with the theological framework and pastoral strategies needed to build churches where everyone can hear the Spirit’s voice for themselves. After experiencing the transforming power of hearing God’s voice in her own life, Rev Dr Tania Harris set out to unlock the questions Christians have debated for centuries: How does God speak? How do you know it’s God? and What difference does it make to the church?

Noted author and pastor Andy Stanley points out that by investing energy into intentionally designed organizational systems, leaders can create powerful, sustainable ministries God can use to transform lives.

Multiplying Missional Leaders Like Jesus -- EVEN if you have never led a group before Don't know how to lead a group? Want a step-by-step plan that's PRACTICAL? Need a strategy for training leaders that your leaders will copy with others? Ever wish you could lead like Jesus did? Leadership is a huge need in the missional church today. The problem? Most groups are following business models rather than the method Jesus gave us. The secret to effective leadership is following the greatest leader of all time -- Jesus. In this guide, Training Radical Leaders, you'll get a ten-week blueprint that...