Brian Kelley Bauknight and Herb Miller, Body Building: Creating a Ministry Team Through Spiritual Gifts. Abingdon, 1996. Referenced in: Congregational Ministry Teams LifeandLeadership.com Summary Among the materials on team ministry, Bauknight’s strength is how to recruit, train, and equip team leaders and members on the basis of spiritual gifts, securing a happier fit for all
George Barna, The Power of Team Leadership: Achieving Success Through Shared Responsibility. Waterbrook Press, 2001. Referenced in: Congregational Ministry Teams LifeandLeadership.com Summary Barna argues that churches often have unhealthy expectations of their leaders, but that leaders often enable this by interacting with their churches in a manner that fosters overdependence. He presents tools to move
Jon Katzenbach and Douglas Smith, The Wisdom of Teams: Creating the High-Performance Organization, Collins Business Essentials. Harper Paperbacks, 2003. Referenced in: Ministry Teams, General Resources LifeandLeadership.com Summary This is a dense and substantive exploration of the benefits of teams. It is probably too academic for the average reader, and is not addressed specifically to ministry
Diana Whitney, Amanda Trosten-Bloom, and Jay Cherney. Appreciative Team-Building: Positive Questions to Bring Out the Best In Your Team. iUniverse, 2004. Referenced in: Ministry Staff and Leadership Teams LifeandLeadership.com Summary This is an immensely valuable volume that one is likely to return to frequently. It is not written with churches in mind, but the insights
Kenneth Gangel, Coaching Ministry Teams: Leadership and Management in Christian Organizations. Wipf and Stock Publishing, 2006. Referenced in: Ministry Staff and Leadership Teams LifeandLeadership.com Summary Ken Gangel is one of the most respected authors in church leadership, drawing from his experience in academia, consulting, and ministry practice. This book is similar in scope to the
Alan N. Wright, The Spiritual Dimensions of Team (TCP Leadership Series). Chalice Press, 2010. Referenced in: Ministry Staff and Leadership Teams LifeandLeadership.com Summary This is titled well in that its focus in not so much on improving the productivity of teams toward challenging objectives and goals (though this receives attention in chapters such as “Achieving
Wayne Coideiro, Doing Church as a Team: The Miracle of Teamwork and How it Transforms Churches. Regal Books, 2009. Referenced in: Congregational Ministry Teams LifeandLeadership.com Summary Wayne Coidero is a popular writer in the field of church leadership. Here he shares most of the basic principles of team building, but provides the unique value of
Stephen A. Macchia, Becoming A Healthy Team: Five Traits of Vital Leadership. Baker Books, 2005. Referenced in: Ministry Staff and Leadership Teams LifeandLeadership.com Summary Stephen Macchia has written a number of highly acclaimed and widely used books on church leadership. This is one of his most recent, building on titles such as Becoming a Healthy
Larry W. Osborne, The Unity Factor: Developing a Healthy Church Leadership Team. Owl’s Nest, 2001. Referenced in: Ministry Staff and Leadership Teams Personnel, Ministerial Evaluation LifeandLeadership.com Summary For all practical purposes, this volume was replaced by Osborne’s Sticky Teams, but readers may benefit from both volumes. It incorporates most of the best practices of teamwork,
Jim Putnam, Church is a Team Sport: A Championship Strategy for Doing Ministry Together. Baker Books, 2009. Referenced in: Congregational Ministry Teams LifeandLeadership.com Summary This book on team ministry comes out of the experience of a pastor who is a former coach and wrestler. It integrates most of the best practices of teamwork. The chief
