James M. Antal, Considering a New Call: Ethical and Spiritual Challenges for Clergy. Alban Institute, 2000. Referenced in: Ministry Transitions and Interim Ministry LifeandLeaderhsip.com Summary Other books on ministerial transitions hint at the topic of this book, but none develops it so thoroughly. Most ministers know what it is like to have an ongoing relationship
Chris Brauns, When the Word Leads Your Pastor Search: Biblical Principles and Practices to Guide Your Search. Moody Publishers, 2011. Referenced in: Ministry Transitions and Interim Ministry LifeandLeadership.com Summary This is an excellent guide that steers ministers and search committees away from superficial, “image-based” exchanges during a search process, and toward a more biblical framework
T. Scott Daniels, The First 100 Days: A Pastor’s Guide. Beacon Hill Press, 2011. Referenced in: Ministry Transitions and Interim Ministry LifeandLeadership.com Summary Daniels covers some of the subjects one would expect on the things to do in the first 100 days of a new ministry, but more importantly, he emphasizes the importance of self-knowledge,
Paul Hopkins, Pursuing Pastoral Excellence. Alban Institute, 2011. Referenced in: Ministry Transitions and Interim Ministry LifeandLeadership.com Summary The aim of this book is to lay out the consistent patterns found in those who have long-term ministries in one place. What do they do? What makes these persons tick? He profiles seven ministers, raises questions, and
Bruce G. Epperly, Starting With Spirit: Nurturing Your Call to Pastoral Leadership. Alban Institute, 2011. Referenced in: Ministry Transitions and Interim Ministry LifeandLeadership.com Summary This is especially valuable for those who are transitioning from college/seminary to their first ministry. The topics covered are listed in the publisher’s description below. The special contribution is his approach
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,
Blaine Allen, Before You Quit – When Ministry is Not What You Thought. Kregel Academic and Professional, 2001. Referenced in: Ministry Transitions and Interim Ministry Strengthening and Renewing the Ministry Call LifeandLeadership.com Summary This volume emerged out of Allen’s experience of wanting to quit but feeling compelled to stick it out. He is both sensitive
Gwen Wagstrom Halaas, M.D., Clergy, Retirement, and Wholeness: Looking Forward to the Third Age. Alban Institute, 2005. Referenced in: Minister Self-Care LifeandLeadership.com Summary In one of the few books of its kind, Wagstrom draws from her experience as a family physician, medical educator, and director of Evangelical Lutheran Church in America’s (ELCA) Ministerial Health and
Gary Fenton, Your Ministry’s Next Chapter: Restoring the Passion of the Mid-Career Pastor. Baker Books, 2005. Referenced in: Minister Self-Care LifeandLeadership.com Summary Not every minister experiences a crisis in mid-life, but most do become more reflective. Fenton offers very helpful perspective on issues of the mid-career pastor. Some mid-life pastors succumb to the insidious tendency
William Bridges, Transitions: Making Sense of Life’s Changes. Second edition, expanded and updated. De Capo Press, 2004. Referenced in: Minister Self-Care LifeandLeadership.com Summary Bridges writes this long-time best seller out of his own experience in the 1970s where he left an enviable career as a respected professor and entered a period of great uncertainty about
