Ministry Leadership

Real life ministry is complicated—far more complicated than is typically captured in leadership books. There are moving parts and people who require adept, agile, adaptive leadership. Unlike technical challenges with a clear or known solution, adaptive challenges are complex and dynamic, requiring creative leaderships. Adaptive leadership is art, not science. It is an exercise in wisdom, not just knowledge. It requires leaders to ascertain the issues, values, and stakes unique to a given situation, to consider the potential courses of action, and decide which courses are best.

In Sticky Church, author and pastor Larry Osborne makes the case that closing the back door of your church is even more important than opening the front door wider. He offers a time-tested strategy for doing so: sermon-based small groups that dig deeper into the weekend message and tightly velcro members to the ministry. It's a strategy that enabled Osborne's congregation to grow from a handful of people to one of the larger churches in the nation - without any marketing or special programming. Sticky Church tells the inspiring story of North Coast Church's phenomenal growth and offers practical tips.

Based on Dave Kraft's 35 years of leading, teaching leadership, and coaching dozens of Christian leaders, Leaders Who Last moves through three stages of leadership: foundations, formation, and fruitfulness. Concise, anecdotal, and packed with wisdom, this book will help you aim your ambitions, refine your character, and position yourself to be an effective leader who endures.

"What do you wish your pastor knew about women in the church?” The question went out to hundreds of Christian women. This book is the result of that survey: powerful new insights and guidance that can help pastors build up women, heal them, empower them, and help them contribute fully and gladly to the church.

Is successful leadership measured simply by the outcomes a leader achieves, or is there another - more essential - yardstick for measuring success? In Redefining Leadership, author, pastor, and college president Joe Stowell shows us that the best leaders are driven by Christ-formed character, and that truly successful leadership is not defined by the standards of this world but by the counter-intuitive practices and perspectives of the Kingdom of Christ.

Pastors and ministry leaders are some of the hardest-working people in the world—and they have the high rate of burnout to prove it. As a leader, if you aren't operating at peak efficiency and taking care of yourself, it is bound to catch up with you in a big way. So few in ministry feel they have the time to take a sabbatical or tend to their own physical, emotional, and spiritual needs. But healthy rhythms of work and rest are the key to a thriving, long-term ministry.

Your church's sermons often include a call to evangelize. You've held evangelism training events. You give out invites to your Christmas and Easter services. So… where are all the new Christians? Is your church actually reaching the lost with the gospel? For many of us, despite having the best intentions our churches struggle to reach out with the gospel effectively. J.A. Medders and Doug Logan, Jr. have decades of experience in leading churches and mentoring pastors, and here they outline six principles for cultivating a genuine evangelistic culture throughout your church.

Longtime Christian journalist, researcher, and ministry leader Rick Lawrence believes that the driving force propelling the church into irrelevance is its propensity reduce Jesus. Deeply researched and comprehensively sourced, Editing Jesus, explores the 8 ways the Jesus of the contemporary church has been edited to fit the spirit of the age. Lawrence writes on:

From the classic best-selling series on prayer, with over 4 million books sold, comes this much needed and requested edition written especially for leaders - in business, ministry, and government. Discover dozens of powerful, scripture-based prayers written in light of a leader's great responsibilities! Plus special sections are included specifically for the needs of those in government with prayers for America, its citizens and military.

Success: One Day At A Time is the kind of book you will want to listen to in your car or in bed. Each moment contains a snapshot of the daily road of an overcomer. It is the perfect gift for the new graduate as well as anyone else who wants to become all that God intended! Owning a book by John Maxwell is like having your own personal trainer and cheerleader.

Beyond Integrity offers a balanced approach to a number of concrete ethical issues. Readings from a wide range of sources present competing perspectives on each issue, and real-life case studies further help the listener grapple with ethical dilemmas. The authors want to help the listener arrive at his or her own conclusions. To this end, they provide a decision-making model. They also present, in addition to several views on each topic, a distinctly Christian perspective on each issue under discussion.

This audiobook is a guiding light for anyone who has pondered the nature of the Body of Christ and the multitude of churches in existence today. We earnestly encourage every Christian to delve into this audiobook. May the Lord grant you a profound vision of His Body and lead you into deep fellowship with Him and His people.

While much of church planting today is approached as an innovative new effort, church leaders can take comfort in the truth that they are simply stewards of what the faithful church has been doing for millennia. By rediscovering the foundations of our heritage, we are able to build healthier, more faithful, and more effective churches. At the same time, the act of planting new churches can breathe new life into these ancient traditions as they are applied to a variety of cultural contexts.

Learn to gain a stronger awareness for life and achieve more on a daily basis with continual motivation. You can! The power of motivation. The magic of thinking big. We are often pushed like the wind from one task to the next and regularly lose our ways in life. This can be all change with simple adjustments and a change in habits. Learn to create a habit of motivation. Motivation can be elusive and as unpredictable. It can be non-existent for days on end and it can also appear out of the blue. Staying motivated can be very challenging, especially on days when you need it the most.

Within The Leader's Checklist, you will find 10 simple, practical, and effective action steps to develop your leadership abilities. Whether you lead a company, a church, a network marketing team, a youth group, a department, or a home, the information shared will benefit you and help you reach the next level.

You may be a new believer and wonder what it means to belong to a church; you may be reluctant to commit to your church because of past experiences; you may have recently relocated and want to find a church where you feel at home; or you may love your church and desire to commit to it more deeply and serve it more fully. Whatever the case, this book will help you to see that belonging to a church is a good gift from God, the outworking of our identity as brothers and sisters in Christ, and worth your time, love, and commitment.

Maybe you have been there: you’re running late to church, and you know it will be hard to find an empty seat. This is an all-too-frequent experience in a growing church. For churches experiencing this dilemma, a common solution is to add another service or location. This seems like a cost-effective fix. Besides, no one wants to turn away non-Christians. But is it the best option? Jonathan Leeman presents a series of biblical, theological, and pastoral arguments to help reorient our minds to a scriptural definition of church.

Dwight Zscheile, Michael Binder, and Tessa Pinkstaff build on Scripture, theology, and the latest leadership and change theories to guide church leaders on a journey toward grassroots, participatory spiritual growth. This faithful innovation begins with a three-step process: listening to God and to each other, acting so we can learn, and sharing our stories in community. Real-life stories and supportive spiritual practices make each step toward effective change accessible and actionable.

Many are perplexed by the significant shifts in our world today. Things are changing in politics, economics, and the very fabric of our society. Will the church lag behind, battered by the winds of change, or be the true pioneer God has called her to be? The Christian Church needs a reformation as far reaching as 500 years ago. Do we see the need for revival and are we willing to pay the price of leaving behind the familiar to prepare new wineskins for new wine?

Why are homosexual clergymen the biggest homophobes? Why do they hide sexual offenders behind clerical collars? Why do they hate Pope Francis so much? The answers to these and many other questions are what French sociologist F. Martel, looks for in his interviews with the clergymen. His book is a result of an investigation conducted in 30 countries. He finds that the Church has the biggest community of homosexuals in the world.