Things They Never Taught You in Seminary

Rating:
Summary: Excellent advice on pastoral leadership!
Review: The title page describes this book's subject as "Church management" and "church work," but "leadership" is really the content of this book. It ought to be required reading for every seminary student, as the last book they read befre graduating. Seminaries today already tend to be poor at training leadership skills (as compared to research skills, preaching skills, theological skills, etc.), and the Bushfield's put down on paper some of the practical in's and out's of being a good pastor-leader. I don't know why this book hasn't gotten wider circulation (it was written in 1994, and in 2000 I am writing the first customer to review it), especially with the recent proliferation of leadership books in Christian bookstores. Long-time pastors may already know some of the content in this book from experience, and even new pastors may already intuitively grasp some of the principles contained herein. Nevertheless, it never hurts to see what is intuitively suspected written down on paper in black and white. The title is true: this book has nothing to do with theology or preaching but everything to do with maintaining a sound and effective relationship with your church. The advice is excellent, on such topics as "How much change to implement in your first year at a chruch," "When and when not to respond to a midnight telephone call," "When it's better to implement change without seeking congregational approval" (sometimes it's better to ask for forgiveness than permission), and the always important "How to avoid an affair with someone in your congregation, and what to do if you've already slipped." The book consists of sound advice on these and a variety of other topics, offering practical suggestions and case-studies to illustrate the potential dilemmas into which pastors can get themselves, if they're not careful. If you are a pastor who is iterested in knowing how to handle some of the "gray areas" of congregational life, this is an excellent read.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent advice on pastoral leadership!
Review: The title page describes this book's subject as "Church management" and "church work," but "leadership" is really the content of this book. It ought to be required reading for every seminary student, as the last book they read befre graduating. Seminaries today already tend to be poor at training leadership skills (as compared to research skills, preaching skills, theological skills, etc.), and the Bushfield's put down on paper some of the practical in's and out's of being a good pastor-leader. I don't know why this book hasn't gotten wider circulation (it was written in 1994, and in 2000 I am writing the first customer to review it), especially with the recent proliferation of leadership books in Christian bookstores. Long-time pastors may already know some of the content in this book from experience, and even new pastors may already intuitively grasp some of the principles contained herein. Nevertheless, it never hurts to see what is intuitively suspected written down on paper in black and white. The title is true: this book has nothing to do with theology or preaching but everything to do with maintaining a sound and effective relationship with your church. The advice is excellent, on such topics as "How much change to implement in your first year at a chruch," "When and when not to respond to a midnight telephone call," "When it's better to implement change without seeking congregational approval" (sometimes it's better to ask for forgiveness than permission), and the always important "How to avoid an affair with someone in your congregation, and what to do if you've already slipped." The book consists of sound advice on these and a variety of other topics, offering practical suggestions and case-studies to illustrate the potential dilemmas into which pastors can get themselves, if they're not careful. If you are a pastor who is iterested in knowing how to handle some of the "gray areas" of congregational life, this is an excellent read.