Church Leadership

Author and pastor Jared C. Wilson shows how to lead a culture shift in a church from a focus on numerical success to the metrics of grace. Leading a church culture to shift from numerical success to the metrics of grace can be costly, but leaders who have conviction, courage, and commitment can lead while avoiding some of the land mines that often destroy churches.

In every position of power lies the potential for life-giving leadership or destructive corruption. Driven by sinful pride or opportunism, many people abuse their God-given influence, harming the ones they’re called to lead and contributing to an intense angst against authority. The answer to bad authority, however, is not no authority, but good authority—the kind that, according to Scripture, causes those under it to flourish. In this compelling guide from 9Marks, Jonathan Leeman shows that authority, done biblically, is not only good, but is essential to human flourishing.

Amy Orr-Ewing has learned a lot of lessons the hard way. As an internationally known speaker, theologian, and apologist, she has navigated through many challenges: battling abuse, finding and using her voice, building a lasting ministry, leading with confidence, thriving in friendship, relying on God in hard times, and more. Now, she's sharing the wisdom she has gained over twenty-five years with other women so they, too, can grow in Christian leadership.

If churches are the dwelling place of God’s spirit, why are so many built around the strategies of man? Eager for growth, leaders can be lured by entertaining new schemes, forgetting doctrinal truth as their driving force. Churches must humbly lean on the sufficiency of God’s word. How to Build a Healthy Church challenges leaders to evaluate their motivations for ministry and provides examples of healthy, deliberate leadership. This is more than a step-by-step plan to mimic; it’s a biblical blueprint for pastors, elders, and anyone committed to the church’s vitality.

Gospel-Centered Evangelism: Activating Evangelistic Leadership in Your Church is for pastoral leaders who would like their church to be the evangelistic force in the world that God desires. It is the gospel itself that offers church leadership the transformation, courage, and direction needed to empower their churches to make Christ continuously known. By experiencing the glory of God in Christ in their own lives, they will be free to do whatever it takes to turn the tide to see their church fulfill God’s mandate to make disciples of all nations.

Did you know that there are certain types of prayers that Satan would like you to pray? Is the enemy wounding you with your own sword? Are you or your church experiencing calamities that prayer does not remedy? Heart attacks, miscarriages, runaway children, sudden illnesses, cancer, or untimely deaths? In this timely audiobook, John Paul Jackson reveals some startling insights that will uncover spiritual strategies of the dark side. Find out how you can protect yourself from Satan's onslaught and escape his unforeseen and unperceived attacks.

Church merger consultant Jim Tomberlin, with cowriter Warren Bird, makes the case that mergers today work best not with two struggling churches but with a vital, momentum-filled lead church partnering with a joining church. In this new audiobook, they provide a complete, practical, hands-on guide for church leaders of both struggling and vibrant churches so that they can understand the issues, develop strategies, and execute a variety of forms of merger for church expansion and renewal to reinvigorate declining churches and give them a "second life".

In 1994, the most Christianized country in Africa became the site of its worst genocide. The tragedy was in Rwanda, but what happened was a mirror reflecting the deep brokenness of the church in the West. Yet by looking at what happened and why, we can find hope for the global body of Christ.

While many aspects of leadership development are similar for women and men, women face different cultural expectations and have different experiences than their male counterparts. Anna Morgan's own experiences in pastoral ministry leadership launched her search for a holistic way to grow the skills, influence, and authority of women who are gifted and called as leaders. This book provides a positive, comprehensive research-based model for developing women in church and ministry leadership. Morgan identifies seven aspects of leadership development that form a woman over her lifetime.

While many denominations claim to be growing, the largest group in American religious life is the disillusioned - people who have been involved in the church yet see few similarities between the church's life and the person of Jesus. In the midst of elaborate programming, professional worship teams, and political crusades, they ask, "Is this really what Jesus called us to do?" While the church has dismissed these people as uncommitted and lacking in faith, perhaps the opposite is true. Their commitment to authentic spirituality over institutional idolatry might be the very corrective the church needs.

American Christianity teaches the centrality of the individual: my will, my experiences, my decision, my heart, my work, and my dedication. Yet we couldn't be more unaware that Christ and His saving and comforting work are being lost. Our minds and hearts are captivated in some way by those who often preach the Christian instead of Christ.

Spirit and Sacrament by pastor and author Andrew Wilson is an impassioned call to join together two traditions that are frequently and unnecessarily kept separate. It is an invitation to pursue the best of both worlds in worship, the Eucharistic and the charismatic, with the grace of God at the center. Wilson envisions church services in which healing testimonies, creeds, exuberant praise, and ancient liturgy coexist, and in doing so, deepen our worship and increase our joy.

The world has changed. The changes around us present daunting challenges to the church, and we minister in places we have never been in before. But there are no one-size-fits-all solutions because every church needs to attend to its specific situation and calling. We need to listen for not only what to do but also what not to do. In a world screaming in a thousand directions for our focus, it's essential for us to become attentive to God, our congregation, and our community.

While we can't determine how God will act, we can be expectant and anticipate his work. And revivals are not just experienced-they can be led. James Choung and Ryan Pfeiffer have seen revival in their own ministries, with remarkable transformation in both individuals and communities. They unpack what revival looks like, how Christians can anticipate it, and how they can experience it in their own lives and in larger movements. They provide a model of revival leadership for Christians who want to facilitate and spread revival in their contexts.

After the release of their groundbreaking book, A Church Called Tov, which recorded the stories of abuse and toxic church cultures at some of the most prominent churches in the United States, New Testament scholar and blogger for Christianity Today Scot McKnight and Laura Barringer heard from a flood of people who had experienced similar instances of abuse. In Pivot, Scot and Laura help churches to implement practices, establish priorities, and cultivate the Kingdom Gospel-centered qualities that form goodness cultures.

Gordon Smith is passionate about the need for capable, mature leaders to navigate and respond to a changing society. In this book, he draws on his extensive experience as a university president, pastor, and international speaker to open a multidisciplinary conversation about the competencies and capacities essential for today's leaders.

Il est presque devenu banal d'affirmer que l'Église catholique est en crise au Québec et en Occident. Lorsqu'on considère les abus sexuels sur mineurs, la baisse de la pratique, l'effondre­ment des vocations, la disparition des ordres religieux ou la place ambiguë des femmes, il peut sembler difficile d'espérer des jours meilleurs pour le corps du Christ. Serait-ce la fin de cette institution bimillénaire ? Et pourtant, des voix d'ici s'élèvent pour témoigner de leur espérance malgré les difficultés vécues par notre Église.

Small Church Essentials is for leaders of smaller congregations. It encourages them to steward their role well, debunking myths about small churches while offering principles for leading a dynamic, healthy small church. Based on the popular six-hour lecture that Karl Vaters delivers to church leaders across the country, Small Church Essentials will affirm small church leaders and show them how to identify what they do well and how to do it even better.

A practical tool for women who are called to leadership roles in any area of life, Entrusted to Lead offers biblical insight and real-life encouragement for how to navigate their leadership journey. In Entrusted to Lead, Pastor Donna Pisani draws on over four decades of experience to offer a biblical perspective of women in leadership that considers their role an entrusted assignment rather than just an entitled position.

There are plenty of reasons to criticize, judge, and even walk away from the church. Many of us have been hurt and rejected. We may see church as insular and irrelevant. Despite this, Kevin Makins believes that the church still matters - perhaps more than ever. If you've been burned or burned out by the church, if you've been silenced or misunderstood, if you've left or never even joined in the first place, this candid, hopeful audiobook is your invitation to consider what you miss out on when you give up on church - and what the church misses out on when it gives up on you.