This was not a long book, with 5 chapters written by two different authors. Essentially, this was sort of an anti-leadership book in the secular sense. I say "sort of" as it does say pastors need to be leaders, they are, by definition of their role, the only question is "what kind of leader you want to be".
There are many secular/business-type ideas out there on what it means to be a leader, and while some of that is helpful, this book would push back a little. They would say leadership needs to be kept in check in the pastoral ministry.
Pastoral ministry is far larger than the leadership of a pastor... If leadership is all the church needs in a pastor in order to grow and thrive, what need do we have of the Holy Spirit and the word of God?
The main goal they see in leading a church is caring for people's souls. At the end of the book, they say:
That’s why we wrote this book: we believe that the heart of all leadership and strategic planning is the care of souls. Pastors are not chief executive officers any more than churches are businesses. If pastors try to run a church and cultivate quality leaders without caring for their souls, that congregation is going to be spiritually dead in the water, no matter how impressive its outward metrics may be.
This book leaned on personal experience from the two authors, touching on what they experienced with role descriptions, expectations from others, working in a team, setting mission and visions and strategic plans and throughout gives some tools or advice in how to think through these issues.
On working in a team, one author says, having clear job descriptions is key, along with communication and prayer.
In person, up front, tactful, and compassionate communication is always best. Emails or texts have their place and can be used where appropriate, but they also have their pitfalls. Using them for communication of facts is one thing, but using them for communicating matters of the heart among your team is another.
There was much on strategic planning, below is a mix from both authors.
far too many denominations and pastors end up substituting a strategic plan for the theology and mission of the church. Remember what the ultimate purpose and mission of the church is, as well as what remains the heart and center of the church in every local congregation—namely, word and sacrament ministry founded upon the shed blood of Jesus Christ for the salvation of souls.
If you want to pursue the details of how to create a strategic plan, you can consult any number of books written specifically for crafting such plans for nonprofit organizations, though it is not necessary to do so. Remember that this is not your primary purpose as a pastor. If you find yourself spending more time researching how to create a strategic plan than you do writing a sermon, praying, or visiting people, you likely have your priorities out of alignment.
Every church needs a pastor, in other words. People can’t believe without hearing, and they can’t hear without a preacher, and preachers can’t preach unless they are sent (Rom 10:14–15). So a church can live without a strategy; but it lives much better when it charts out its priorities and directions.
Strategic planning in the church is abused when more time and energy is invested the planning process than in actual ministry. But it’s equally tragic when there’s no plan at all
A later chapter did give a framework on how you might come up with a strategic plan for your church with a series of questions, refining who you are, what resources you have, cultural challenges, the profile of those in your church, and the capital needs and finances of the church. But always with a view to aligning it with scripture and not at the expense of caring for those already in the church.
There was a chapter on power and authority and how to properly lead with both. Essentially, leading with power will mean you will eventually come to a dead end, but leading with authority means you will have a future. In all of this, it is important to remember all authority is delegated, and the role ministers are called to is a servant leadership position; it is for the service of others.
Genuine authority in the church is always delegated. When you assume leadership as a pastor you don’t take the lead; Jesus does. You accomplish your work as an authorized servant of the Word, not a tyrant imposing your own will on the people of your flock
Spiritually healthy churches operate not with a power structure but with the flow of delegated authority.
When it comes to managing the church, it is important to remember, ministers are sort of like farmers:
We’re not the creators; we’re only the managers. We can’t cause the growth or success of our congregation or ministry any more than my dad could produce a corn crop or raise quality beef, pork, or chickens. He simply managed what God created. So do we.
There was a chapter on burnout and the stages one might go through on the way, such as confusion, desperation and capitulation (and three types of capitulation: functional capitulation, dysfunctional capitulation, and hyperactivity) and what each stage might look like
What I found helpful was at the end of the book, there was a long list of secular leadership books (maybe 25+) with good summaries of them; they did preface all of this by saying:
Implement good management principles, but always evaluate these principles according to the word of God
Overall, I found this book a little helpful, but only on a second look. It has been a few months since I read this, and to write this post, I had to re-scan some of it. So, in that sense, it didn't leave a really strong impression on my mind. But on second look and sparking some of my memory, I found the tone and information helpful. The book came from real-life experience from guys who seem to genuinely care for their people in their church, and so also care for the leaders of churches.
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