James P. Osterhaus offers pastors tangible and much-needed advice to help them at work and in their personal lives—advice that they do not often hear in seminary. More and more, men and women who minister find themselves depressed. Their marriages are often in trouble. Their families are negatively affected. Often, they have few if any close friends. Over the years, Osterhaus has coached and counseled hundreds of these ministers from various traditions on four continents. As he sat with ministers who have been nearly crushed by the burdens of ministry, he came to learn that the average training of ministers across the globe is woefully deficient in the very areas that allow ministers to avoid many of the pitfalls. This guide is a result of those countless conversations. Avoiding Pastoral Pitfalls is an attempt to fill some of the void left in the training of pastors. It offers down-to-earth, practical guidance in areas of ministry that are often neglected: understanding yourself (both strengths and weaknesses), what effective leadership looks like, the complicated organizational makeup of the church, how to deal with conflict effectively, how to make sense of your governing board, and how to both enter a new ministry and leave a ministry effectively.

How do you deal with the unspoken, yet continuing dilemmas of your ministry? - Are you seen as a good luck charm? - Are you put on a pedestal of undue adoration? - Are you discouraged in evangelism and stewardship efforts? Pastoral Pitfalls is an excellent tool to help you deal with these and similar problems. It is a resource to be used in small group discussions, in professional retreat centers, and as a practical pastoral instruction guide in seminary classes. Each chapter offers a brief short story, which deals with a daily pastoral dilemma. A study guide concludes each chapter. The guide assists you to think more deeply about the chapter's concern. Questions, meditations, and prayer focus are built into each study guide. Peter Garrison is pastor of Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Burlingame, California. The author leads workshops in pastoral support with his own "clergy cluster." This book is an outcome that addresses problems Garrison sees in his own ministry and in the pastorate-at-large.

If most pastors were pressed to describe an average day of ministry, they'd have trouble doing it. In a single day, a pastor may fill many different roles in quick succession, from counselor to theologian to student to CEO to custodian (well, let's hope there's usually someone else available to perform that last role). Some roles come more naturally than others, but every pastor wants to perform each role to the best of their ability. In The 10 Key Roles of a Pastor, church consultant Gary L. McIntosh shows pastors how to - understand and juggle their many essential roles - prioritize their time and energy - manage their people's expectations of them - and empower others to take up the vital work of the church body Pastors just starting out in ministry, as well as those who have been at it a while and find themselves overworked and overwhelmed, will value this practical resource. It is also an enlightening read for those in church leadership who would benefit from understanding the pressures their pastor faces on a daily basis.

The world has changed, and we minister in places we have never been in before. As the world screams for our focus, it's essential to become attentive to God, our congregation, and our community. Kevin Ford and Jim Singleton call for attentive churches with attentive leaders to discern cultural and organizational change and pivot accordingly.

A handbook on lay counseling including an overview and how-to information for leaders and lay counselors, Reverend Siang-Yang Tan's helpful book also includes a forward by Gary R. Collins.

Improving your powers of communication can encourage powerful communication with your parishioners. A Pastor’s Guide to Interpersonal Communication: The Other Six Days provides students preparing for the pastoral ministry with specialized training in communications that focuses on the kind of one-on-one conversations they can expect to have with their parishioners. This comprehensive book examines a variety of essential topics, including perception, self-disclosure, verbal and nonverbal messages, listening, stages of relational development, power assertiveness and dominance, conflict management, forgiveness, persuasion, dual relationships, pastoral family communication, and how to develop a communications model. Each chapter includes “Pastoral Conversations,” real-life dialogues presented for analysis; “Key Concepts” for quick student review; “Meanings Mania,” self-tests on vocabulary; and “Unleashing the Power of Interpersonal Communication,” student exercises that reinforce the practical aspects of key principles. While many pastors have a great love for the people they minister to, they have difficulty demonstrating that love because they lack the skills to develop and maintain relationships. This book explores how communication works and how to make it work for you, applying the best available interpersonal communications techniques to your relationships with the real people of the church—your parishioners. A Pastor’s Guide to Interpersonal Communication: The Other Six Days examines: how self-disclosure works and when it’s appropriate for a pastor stumbling blocks and building blocks for effective listening the differences between power, assertiveness, and dominance and when to use each conflict management styles and negotiation strategies several myths about forgiveness dual relationships and how to avoid them pitfalls to avoid in pastoral family communication and much more A Pastor’s Guide to Interpersonal Communication: The Other Six Days is an essential resource for Bible college students and for students at the pre-ministerial and seminary levels. It’s also a valuable professional tool for clergy practitioners who need help with their communication skills.

A single woman herself, Mary S. Whelchel offers singles uncompromising, biblical solutions on dating and marriage, financial planning, career choices, family relationship, and friendships with the opposite sex .

Are you wanting to seek or provide counseling, but aren't sure where to start? Join Pastor Victor Hayes as he helps you decipher the differences between secular, Christian, and Biblical Counseling, through real-life examples, sound research and engaging anecdotes! We can't change the past but we can stand firm in the knowledge that God's in control of the future. Grab this book and find out what you can do today to start turning your life around!

Patrick O'Connor highlights specific action-oriented principles from the teachings of George Patterson as he guides the reader through the various aspects of cross-cultural ministry: the gathering of new believers, the development of new churches, the mobilization of new churches into a movement, the training of new leaders, and the departure of the pioneering ministers.

Richard Eslinger discusses with insight, humor, and concision what he sees as the most critical pitfalls in the various contexts of preaching and offers practical strategies for avoiding them.