Cynthia Woolever and Deborah Bruce, Leadership That Fits Your Church: What Kind of Pastor for What Kind of Congregation. Chalice Press, 2012. Referenced in: Ministry Transitions Ministry Burnout, Preventing Minister Self-Care Minister Support Systems LifeandLeadership.com Summary Anything in The Columbia Partnership (TCP) Leadership Series is worth reading. This text is no different. It shares part
Hal West, The Pickled Priest and the Perishing Parish: Boomer Pastors Bouncing Back. CrossBooks, 2011. Referenced in: Strengthening and Renewing the Ministry call LifeandLeadership.com Summary West offers encouragement from Isaiah’s vision of God, alongside his own seasoned insight, for boomer ministers (i.e. old enough to be “pickled”) to renew their call in a time when
David N. Mosser, Editor, Transitions: Leading Churches Through Change. Westminster/John Knox, 2011. Referenced in: Change, Leading Change and Transition Change, Receptiveness and Resistance LifeandLeadership.com Summary This is a rich anthology of seasoned wisdom on how preachers may help their congregations during times of confusing change, conflict, and life crises. It also addresses how congregational issues
Os Guinness, The Call: Finding and Fulfilling the Central Purpose of Your Life. Thomas Nelson, 2003. Referenced in: Missional Lifestyle, Discipleship, Spirituality – Spirituality of Life Calling LifeandLeadership.com Summary This is recognized as the modern classic on the subject of discerning and living out God’s call for one’s life. From the Publisher The Call continues
Dean R. Hoge and Jacqueline E. Wenger, Pastors in Transition: Why Clergy Leave Local Church Ministry. Eerdmans, 2005. Referenced in: Ministry Burnout, Preventing and Overcoming Ministry Transitions and Interim Ministry Strengthening and Renewing the Ministry Call LifeandLeadership.com Summary Based on a survey of 900 ministers from five denominations (United Methodists, Presbyterian Church USA, Evangelical Lutheran,
Henri J. M. Nouwen, The Wounded Healer: Ministry in Contemporary Society. Image Publishers, 1979. Referenced in: Pastoral Theology Strengthening and Renewing the Ministry Call LifeandLeadership.com Summary This classic from the late Nenri Nouwen presents a hopeful model of ministry that compassionately identifies with the woundedness of human nature. This refers not only to the fallenness
Reinhold Niebuhr and Martin Marty, Leaves from the Notebook of a Tamed Cynic. Westminster / John Knox Press, 1991. Referenced in: Pastoral Theology Strengthening and Renewing the Ministry Call LifeandLeadership.com Summary This classic was first published eighty years ago, but it remains one of the most widely recommended books to help young ministers find meaning
Philip Yancey, Soul Survivor: How Thirteen Unlikely Mentors Helped My Faith Survive the Church. Waterbrook Press, 2003. Companion volume: Yancey, The Church – Why Bother? Referenced in: Strengthening and Renewing the Ministry Call LifeandLeadership.com Summary This is a helpful volume for church leaders who need to reaffirm their calling, perhaps because of a period of
Philip Yancey, The Church, Why Bother? Zondervan, 2001. Companion volume: Yancey, Soul Survivor Referenced in: Strengthening and Renewing the Ministry Call LifeandLeadership.com Summary Philip Yancey journals his personal pilgrimage from skepticism and disillusionment about the church back to enthusiastic participation. He is painfully honest about the church’s imperfections, but is equally vindicating regarding her strengths
Thom Bandy, Why Should I Believe You: Rediscovering Clergy Credibility. Abingdon Press, 2007. Referenced in: Pastoral Theology Strengthening and Renewing the Ministry Call LifeandLeadership.com Summary Though the title would have you believe this book is about ministerial ethics or credibility. It is more accurately about restoring a biblical sense of the ministry role. The book
