John Ortberg, Overcoming Your Shadow Mission. Zondervan, 2008. Referenced in: Strengthening and Renewing the Ministry Call LifeandLeadership.com Summary I naturally think of this book as helpful during a time of discouragement and burnout, but probably not the first read at such times. It hits a little too hard. Perhaps the best value is as a
Wayne Coidero, Leading on Empty: Refilling Your Tank and Renewing Your Passion. Bethany House, 2010. Referenced in: Strengthening and Renewing the Ministry Call LifeandLeadership.com Summary Coidero writes out of his own three-year experience of ministerial burnout and his recalibration that radically changed his lifestyle, values, goals, and calling. He offers many of the same insights
Seward Hiltner, Ferment in the Ministry. Abingdon Press, 1969. Referenced in: Ministry Burnout, Preventing and Overcoming Pastoral Theology Strengthening and Renewing the Ministry Call LifeandLeadership.com Summary Although written in the late 1960s during a time that the ministry profession was under harsh criticism from many angles, Hiltner has enduring value. During this period, ministry was
Ed Dobson, Wayne Gordon, Louis McBurney, Standing Fast: Ministry in an Unfriendly World. Multnomah Books, 1994. Referenced in: Ministry Burnout, Preventing and Overcoming LifeandLeadership.com Summary This book is full of encouraging, practical advice for ministers who feel the negative effects of ministry on themselves and their families. It is written in three parts covering ministry
Jason E. Vickers, Minding the Good Ground: A Theology for Church Renewal. Baylor University Press, 2011. Referenced in: Church Leadership Foundations, Church Dynamics, Research From the Publisher Declining memberships. Pastoral scandals. A fear of secularism and the New Atheism. Christians are worried about the church’s future. Despite such despair, Jason Vickers believes the church also
N. Graham Standish, Humble Leadership: Being Radically Open to God’s Guidance and Grace. Alban Institute, 2007. Referenced in: Biblical and Spiritual Foundations of Leadership LifeandLeadership.com Summary Standish is one of the most outstanding writers on Christian leadership today. Among his works is Becoming a Blessed church, which is an excellent integration of spiritual and congregational
Tony Morgan, Killing Cockroaches and Other Scattered Musings on Leadership. B and H Books, 2007. LifeandLeadership.com Summary Sometimes leadership literature can be deep, theoretical, and laborious. Occasionally it is good to read a lighter book full of homespun quips from an experienced leader, not necessarily to gain new information, but to humor, inspire, and give
George Barna, A Fish Out of Water: 9 Strategies Effective Leaders Use to Help You Get Back into the Flow. Thomas Nelson, 2002. LifeandLeadership.com Summary George Barna is a demographer whose books on the religious and spiritual longings of Americans, the characteristics of effective churches, and the nature of Christian leadership have been standard reading
Aubrey Malphurs and Will Mancini, Building Leaders: Blueprints for Developing Leadership at Every Level of Your Church. Baker, 2004. Prequel: Malphurs, Being Leaders (2003) Sequel: Malphurs, Leading Leaders (2005) Referenced in: Leadership Development in Congregations Congregational Ministry Teams LifeandLeadership.com Summary This is the second of a trilogy on leadership by Aubrey Malphurs, this time co-authored
Miroslav Volf and Dorothy Bass, Editors, Practicing Theology: Beliefs and Practices in Christian Life. Eerdmans, 2002. Referenced in: Pastoral Theology From the Publisher No useful atlas would ignore where people live – nor should spiritual road maps. In a time when academic theology often neglects the actual customs of Christian communities, Practicing Theology seeks to
