I was very glad that I read this book, for it touched on a whole gamut of issues that I have faced and offered some helpful tips, advice and models for different ministry situations.
This book starts by framing what pastoral ministry is and then breaks it down into three main areas of Loving God's people, Teaching God's people and Leading God's people.
Pastoral Ministry
Defining Pastoral Ministry it was said to be:
Ministry is participating with God and cooperating with His people in serving others to meet their needs, fulfill our calling, and bring glory to God.
Pastors are “first among equals.” They do not claim any superiority over the lay ministers; however, their unique role and calling is to be a lead minister. To be successful, pastors must minister according to their gifts and lead others to minister according to their gifts
pastors are influential and respected leaders who watch over God’s people by loving, teaching, and leading them—without regard for personal enrichment.
pastors must have a stable lifestyle, character that is above reproach, and necessary skills to do their work
There is never a time when a pastor is not a pastor. Pastors can never drop their guard in the name of authenticity or relaxation and act in a way that is unbecoming to the office
I appreciated these descriptions, especially the equipping people to do the work of ministry (Eph 4:11-12) as this is sort of my life verse at the moment.
Loving God's People
Within these main headings, under Loving God's People, the book touched on things like pastoral care for people who are hurting, hospital visits, and self-care to name a few issues. In this section, I found the following tidbits helpful:
The first rule of effective hospital visitation is to go...When making a visit in a hospital, pastors are walking into a private place that is void of most bastions of privacy
Those grieving a loss will experience Kübler-Ross’ stages, but not necessarily in a pre-defined order. Grieving people will progress and regress through the spectrum over a period of years until they settle into a state of accepting the loss.
In a grieving state, many attempt to bargain with God to alleviate their suffering by appealing to His love for them and His power to do the impossible. What makes it bargaining instead of faith is that they offer something in return for God’s favor.
Conflict, first and foremost, is an opportunity to minister. Pastors minister the Word with hurtful people in a longsuffering manner by reproving, rebuking, and exhorting (2 Tim. 4:2)
It will be impossible to de-escalate conflict without maintaining self-control. Pastors must stay in control of themselves... That is not to say that pastors should ignore the emotions they experience when feeling threatened; rather, it means they should not be controlled by them
Pastors must have the ability to help others without hurting themselves so that they can be spiritually and emotionally healthy, which is required to minister to hurtful people.
While it is healthy not to take oneself too seriously, it is not helpful to ignore disrespectful forms of communication.
It is not neglectful to miss family time due to an acute situation. It is neglectful, however, when missing family time becomes chronic.
Biblical compassion is a motivating, internal feeling that occurs when observing another person in pain. Empathy is an attempt to feel the pain of the other person... Empathy is feeling into someone’s pain and experiencing it. One problem with experiencing the pain of the other person is it voids pastors of their objectivity, which is necessary to minister and give soul guidance...
(from a later section) If pastors make a commitment to care for the hurtful (chap. 4), teach in conflict situations (chap. 9), and stay connected, they will find themselves in regular contact with anxious people... if they show compassion, instead of empathy, they will be able to resist becoming an anxiety receptor and spreading anxiety throughout the entire organization.
Pastors need to develop a reasonable schedule of ministry activities that includes time for all responsibilities, but that does not exceed a fifty-five-hour workweek and no more than a few nights away from home.
Yes, pastoral ministry includes spending time with people on the most difficult days of their lives, but it also about spending time with them on the best days of their lives.
Teaching God's People
On Teaching God's People, the book encourages expositional preaching and clearly explains what that is. Wilson then argues that a high-impact sermon should only have one point. He traced a little bit into the history of the cliché three-point sermon and while it is all a method, and the passage should drive the text and tone, having a single point was persuasive, as it means that point does not compete with other points. Also with one point, it may be easier for people to action that, because the goal of a sermon isn't just knowledge but transformation and you don't really learn until you do. In the Appendix, there were a few examples of what a one-point sermon might look like. Here are some lines that stood out in this section:
One of the greatest ways pastors show their love for their congregations is to preach well-prepared sermons that are faithful to the text
Preachers must faithfully retrieve a meaning from the text (then) and communicate it to people in the contemporary pastoral setting (now), which is thousands of years from the original milieu of the Bible
[the] three-phase communication process: (1) extract meaning from the text, (2) submit to the work of the Holy Spirit as He applies the text to the preacher and then the congregation, and (3) communicate that meaning to the listeners.
expository preaching does not seek to impose meaning, it demands preachers locate the intent of the author.... Expository preachers must get out of the way of the text, allowing the text to shape the sermon getting clues from the genre informed by the intent of the author.
This is not to say that all narrative passages make only a single point, only that as a rule, it is wise to look for a single point instead of assuming the complexity of plot dynamics automatically dictate multiple points exist in the narrative.
More times than not, expository sermons will reveal something about God and the way He works in redemptive history. If preachers align their sermons with authorial intent, the majority—if not all—of their sermons will be Theo-centric and will encourage the listeners to respond in faith to God as revealed in the sermon.
The one-point sermon must have atomic impact upon the congregation. It must be powerful and it must be clear. The strength of a one-point sermon is that it does not force any point to compete with another for the audience’s attention
The purpose of the sermon is not to teach the Bible or the audience, but to transform people’s lives
The sermon climaxes with the transformative point—a call for the people to respond in faith to God as revealed in the text and proclaimed in the sermon... a transformative point is a concrete, memorable statement of the preferred response a listener should make to God’s nature, attributes, or glory as revealed in the text
Preachers cannot expect people to apply a sermon when the preachers do not practice what they preach themselves. What we do matters more than what we say. There is an inseparable connection between the message and the messenger.
Leading God's people
For Leading God's people, issues of leading through conflict and leading through change were addressed. Different situations and "types" or settings were defined to help you spot what they are, such as triangulation, saboteur, scapegoating etc... Systems theory was introduced as a model to help understand the power (positional authority and personal influence) and types of leader/leaderships involved when one is higher than the other (eg high positional author but low personal influence and vice versa).
This book was American and written by a Baptist. This section, in particular, made me grateful that my system of polity is different, for in a Baptist setting, when conflict is high (or high-powered/influential people are upset) it can mean at any time a vote can be called and you could lose your job. In that sort of environment, it may mean leaders might seek more to appease the key people rather than lead them. There were a few long-form stories from ministry experience and then a breakdown of various issues that that situation involved. That was sort of helpful, as initially, you may favour one party over the other, but really it is not always clear that everyone is wearing the clear white or black hat.
Quotes from this section (there are more here than the others as I learned more and maybe found it more interesting)
One of the ways pastors love the people they serve is to preach well-prepared transformative sermons that meets their congregation’s needs and challenges them to grow spiritually. Equally, one of the best leadership tools pastors have is the pulpit, where they cast vision and give commentary on the direction of the church organization.
God’s people need to invite God into their sorrows. They can do so with confidence because He promised never to leave or forsake His people (Deut. 31:8) and has promised to be with His people until the very end (Matt. 28:18–20). The Psalmist never promised that God’s people would not have to walk through the valley of the shadow of death, just that they would not have to walk through it alone (Ps. 23:4)
While trials may come, they will never destroy God’s people (Rom. 8:38–39) because He shelters (Ps. 91:4) and protects (2 Thess. 3:3) His people. God can be trusted.
Conflict
Pastors should not run from conflict fearing personal pain; rather, they should lean into it, knowing it is one way they teach while walking around.
[Jesus] default response was to teach when the conflict was low in intensity and disengage when it was high.
Pastors must hold their temper and be self-controlled in all situations (Titus 1:5–9), even when friends engage in personal attacks against them. Jesus ignored the personal attacks and focused on people’s potential to learn. He taught them.
When pastors make mistakes, they should admit and take responsibility for them. When they do, it helps build healthy relationships between pastors and the people they serve
Conflict situations provide opportunities for loving God’s people, when they are hurtful, teaching God’s people, and leading God’s people to accomplish the church’s mission.
Most pastors are going through some sort of conflict most of the time, but think other pastors are not. Fish swim in water, alligators live in swamps, and pastors minister in an environment of conflict.
In valid disagreements, both sides should attack the problem, not one another
Seasons of conflict reveal a leaders’ true character. Since conflict is inevitably a part of every ministry, churches then need leaders with “above reproach” characteristics (chap. 1). Those pastors can lead during seasons of conflict if they stay connected, remain calm, avoiding reactive behavior, and prepare for sabotage
System theory
Systems theory is a look at what is happening around a person to understand behavior. It aids in understanding and explaining the dynamics of people’s reactions to one another and their behaviors.
Systems theory shifts the focus away from a person back to the problem. It is a perspective that helps leaders understand what is happening in their organization so they can limit their reactivity and distraction to keep their organization working the mission.
triangulation takes place anytime one person (instigation position) influences a friend (squeezed position) to fight on his or her behalf with a mutual friend (target position)... It is easy for a pastor to become an anxiety sponge, soaking in other people’s stress
An instigator will put you in the squeezed position to pass information along to a target to imply tacit support on your part, or to filter or soften the reaction of the target.
Groupthink is common.. “the two leading theories of conformity state that people tend to look to the group when they are not sure what to do, or when they are afraid of being different.”
Scapegoating is an attempt to pinpoint a culprit or to find fault with someone
not every person who alerts an organization to trouble is a troublemaker. It could be that troublemakers are just an early warning system, so to speak. They may not be the problem; they may just be alerting the system to the problem.
Sometimes a leader overfunctions to compensate for another person’s underfunctioning, other times the leader overfunctions because of an intrinsic need to rescue others.... Rescuing a person from the natural consequences of his behavior enables him to continue in irresponsible behavior. God did not repeal the law of sowing and reaping. It is still operating.
Fusion occurs when leaders are absorbed into the organizations they lead and the lines between me and we are blurred. In effect, there becomes so much “we” that there is no longer a “me.”... In a state of fusion with an organization, leaders lose the capacity to lead. They lose objectivity and lack the capacity to take a stand apart from groupthink. Beyond that, they lose the ability to remain calm and take on the anxiety of the group
Differentiation is about proper balance between autonomy and connectedness. In fusion, a leader loses self in the group. In differentiation, a leader maintains self so he or she can properly lead the group
Leading Change
it is essential to stay connected with everyone, during seasons of conflict, anxiety, or transition.
Most people are willing to wait for information if they have confidence that leadership will communicate decisions when leaders make them.
The operational principle is this: while discussions are confidential, decisions are not. And leaders should make them public as soon as possible.
Calm leaders can cast a vision, reactive ones cannot. Once leaders lose self-control, or relinquish control to group think, they cannot lead the organization they serve. The presence of a calm leader gives people hope
We are to cast our cares on God, who cares for us (Ps. 55:22; 1 Peter 5:6–7) and avoid worrying (Luke 21:34; Phil. 4:6–7; Matt. 6:25–31). It is a matter of trust. Pastors can trust that God will take care of them, even in the midst of anxious times.
Remain calm and work the mission. There is never a time a church can afford to ignore the Great Commission and the Great Commandment. They must work their mission, even during difficult trying times.
Positive change is hard. There is a constant gravitational pull towards homeostasis—a desire for things to stay the same... prepare for and be ready to deal with sabotage. Expect it. It is not personal. People do not sabotage you because they do not like you; it is because they don’t like change. Sabotage comes in response to wanting togetherness and things to stay the same
The discomfort of not changing must be greater than the discomfort of going through the change process
If the change does not further the mission of the church there is no reason to endure the pain of the change process
If the change will be dead on arrival, there is no need to attempt it. It will just cause division and erode trust. However, initial resistance to an idea is common. Though it can vary, depending on the social system, one study illustrates that it can take from .4 of a year to 4.65 years for those who will eventually accept an innovation to adopt it, and 1.14 years to reach an early majority... Even after the majority of the people are on board, there will still be skeptical people (34%) to convince and resistant people (16 percent) to challenge
Pastors can lead their churches to change, but it requires that they define reality, discover a preferred future, and develop a change strategy. They are responsible to lead the church into positive change. To increase their probability of success, they will not attempt to do it alone.
Overall I found this book really helpful, and so really this review is a highlight of different bits, really for my own reference to look back on. I thought this book was written by a good clear teacher who had many many years of pastoral experience to lean into. It felt like this book would have been a good introduction to ministry book for someone starting out as the areas covered were broad, but also deep enough. The main thing I think I found most startling was the conclusion when wrapping up and talking about the reward of this selfless role, besides God's approval they said:
Our reward is not in the results of our work, but is relationships we form doing our work. Love is the greatest of all the things that endure (1 Cor. 13:13). Love is our reward. The reward is not just the love received, but also the love given
I was very challenged by this because, in this area, I probably would have been thinking about the effect you may have had on people in training and equipping them for ministry, or setting up systems for growth or something like that. I was really floored that Wilson put the locus of reward in ministry in the relationships that you form along the way. This really shifted my thinking and caused me some self-reflection. Am I too pragmatic, how do I see the people I minister to and my relationship with? Do I find the giving of love as rewarding or draining (could it be both?). All this to say I appreciated this book and was reminded, prodded and challenged to be a better minister.
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