Gary L. Harbaugh, Caring for the Caregiver: Growth Models for Professional Leaders and Congregations. Alban Institute, 1992. Referenced in: Ministry Support Systems LifeandLeadership.Com Summary Based on the Caring for the Caregiver survey in 1991, Harbaugh discusses seven levels of support needed for ministers: personal, familial, congregational, collegial, community (e.g. healthcare), denominational, and interdenominational. It is
Daniel Overdorf, Ministering to Your Minister. HeartSpring / College Press Publishing, 2008. Referenced in: Ministry Support Systems LifeandLeadership.com Summary This volume, written Johnson University Professor, Dr. Daniel Overdorf, provides a very practical guide for congregations who love their ministers and want to do everything they can to “share in all good things” with them. He
Roy M. Oswald, How to Build a Support System for Your Ministry. Wipf and Stock Publishers, 2005. Referenced in: Ministry Support Systems LifeandLeadership.Com Summary Oswald is a Senior Consultant with Alban Institute. He equips ministers who want support systems but do not know where to start. He says ministers must seek this support intentionally, recruit
Gary R. McIntosh and Robert L. Edmonson, M.D., It Only Hurts on Monday: Why Pastors Quit and What You Can Do About It. ChurchSmart Resources, 1998. Referenced in: Ministry Support Systems Ministry Burnout, Preventing and Overcoming LifeandLeadership.com Summary McIntosh provides churches with helpful insight and workable solutions for pastoral burnout. Each chapter ends with a
Melissa Bane Sevier, Journeying Toward Renewal: A Spiritual Companion for Pastoral Sabbaticals. Alban Institute, 2002. Referenced in: Minister Self-Care LifeandLeadership.Com Summary Sevier helps ministers assess their need for a sabbatical, propose it to their churches, and secure funding for themselves and their congregations. She discusses how to plan and engage the actual sabbatical period –
Richard A. Bullock and Richard J. Bruesehoff, Clergy Renewal: The Alban Guide to Sabbatical Planning. Alban Institute, 2000. Referenced in: Minister Self-Care LifeandLeadership.com Summary The authors provide a comprehensive guide for both ministers and their congregations in planning, initiating, and completing a sabbatical, and then facilitating reentry into congregational life. They dispel common misconceptions and
Lynne Dugan, Heart-to-Heart With Pastor’s Wives: Twelve Women Share the Wisdom They’ve Gained as Partners in Ministry. Regal Books, 1994. Referenced in: Minister Self-Care LifeandLeadership.Com Summary Dugan is founder and president of the Washington, D.C. Metro Association of Evangelical Pastors’ Wives which has grown into a national ministry of support groups. This book is a
Jack Balswick and Cameron Lee, Life in a Glass House: The Minister’s Family and the Local Congregation. Fuller Seminary Press, 2006. Referenced in: Minister Self-Care LifeandLeadership.Com Summary Lee and Balswick are experienced professors and established authors in the fields of psychology and family studies. This book focuses on achieving balances amid the unique commitments and
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
Pamela Evans, The Overcommitted Christian: How To Serve God Without Wearing Out. InterVarsity Press, 2001. Referenced in: Ministry Burnout, Preventing and Overcoming LifeandLeadership.com Summary The unique contribution of this book is Evans’ belief that some who over-extend themselves in service to God may be acting out addictions or seeking to earn their own salvation instead
