7 Practices of Effective Ministry

I have been a pastor for the last seven months at the time of writing this review. I found it to be extremely helpful for me. This is the kind of book that will influence how you see and do things for the rest of your leadership life. The book uses baseball to illustrate ministry and the writers make it interesting. The very first point is "clarify the win." This point is often missed by churches. I often hear "we need revival" and then I have wondered, "what would revival actually look like and how would we know we were in it if it was going on?" If you do not know what it means to win then you will not know what or when you need to be celebrating. All seven points are rich and important. I recommend this book to pastors and leaders that may be at the point of frustration and need something to jumpstart their ministry again.

Starting with a narative that seems to have little connection, the authors then apply the lessons propounded in the narative in a way you can't guess ahead of time. This is no rehashing of previous books on leadership, but a fresh approach. An approach that , all of a sudden, makes complete sense! "Why didn't I think of this, before?" You'll be challenged to approach 'doing church' much differently.

Page 67 has contains a brief disclaimer that begins with the following sentence: "The principles and practices described in this book are not and cannot be a substitute for God's blessing or power." I love that disclaimer. Church growth architects tend to love books like this. Theologians and contemplatives hate them. Don't allow yourself to be sucked in by either side. Quality pastoral ministry has at least four dimensions: pragmatic, Spirit empowered, personal, and public. This book focuses on the pragmatic. In doing so it found its nitch. Written in story style, which is designed to appeal to post moderns, this book offers 7 principles, which if followed, will most likely enhance any pastor's ministry potential. Pastors, you owe it to yourselves and your congregations to keep as up to date as possible on all facets of ministry. Get this book. It is worth its price.

You can't get a better book! The baseball analogy made so much sense, and the application to church and our programs made me take notes. This book will change the way you think about what you do, and will give you a simple thought process to help you discern busy-ness from effectiveness. A Children's Pastor bought this for me, our entire church staff is now studying it, and I have just purchased 5 copies for my department heads. Give it away! Dan

This book has been a highlight in my reading this year! It has challenged me to look deeper into what needs to be done in ministry. The 7 Practices are (1) Clarify the Win, (2) Think Steps, Not Programs, (3) Narrow the Focus, (4) Teach Less for More, (5) Listen to Outsiders, (6) Replace Yourself, and (7) Work On It. The book begins with a parable, much like that from authors Spencer Johnson or Ken Blanchard, where the 7 practices are being explained in a story about a pastor with a situation in church where he needs help in. The story begins with the pastor thinking whether he should go for a board meeting (which he was dreading to go), or to go for possibly the most important baseball game that season. In order not for me to spoil your reading, I would not go further but to say that the story will wet your appetite for more. The book continues to explain each practice not only with clarity, but ending each chapter with a list of questions. It is often that we jump from problem to answers not realizing our answer to the problem may not really be moving us forward. Hence, to have the right answers, we need to first ask the right questions, and this book provides hard questions for us to evaluate where we are. The book can be assumed as a coach for any person in ministry, asking the right and tough questions, and the answers that you come up for those questions would be the process to go toward. This is because every ministry is different, but the questions the same, and your own answers to the questions would suit that context of ministry you are in.