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Category: Books
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 Title: Preventing Ministry Failure  | views:107 |  Review by John L Ng Sep 09
Preventing Ministry Failure
IVPress, 2007
According to various surveys, 90 percent of ministry providers interviewed feel inadequate with ministry demands, 80 percent believe their ministry affects them and their families adversely and 45 percent experience some level of burnout. These hard data speak to the high potential for ministry failure. Preventing Ministry Failure addresses this concern. The book is collaborated by Brad Hoffmann, a church pastor, and Michael Todd Wilson, a licensed counselor. They are co-founders of ShepherdCare, a resource service for ministry and care givers.
Ministry failure is a real threat to every ministry provider. I suffered its severity years ago that altered my mental and physical health forever. Just recently a friend in church work took a long leave to stay at a retreat for healing. Both my friend and I wish we have resources to give us better options. Based on the authors’ research, Preventing Ministry Failure offers seven ‘foundational stones’ to help ministry and care givers to have a long and productive ministry.
The first foundational stone is genuine intimate relationships with God and others. Having these healthy relationships is crucial to a healthy ministry. The second stone is a deep sense of life’s calling. Knowing who we are, what we need to do and where we ought to go according to God’s purpose puts all professional work in its proper prospective. The third is stress-management. Acquiring the learned abilities to monitor and manage one self, ministry responsibilities and others can prevent emotional exhaustion and ministry burnout.
The fourth has to do with life and ministry boundaries. Having a clean, cognitive understanding of what things are true, important and right will guard against unintentional and harmful detours. The fifth is the importance of re-creation. Setting the time and making the space to balance work with leisure is the better portion of holistic living. The sixth is sufficient people skills. The acquired skills of monitoring, motivating and managing others are non-negotiable in building a ministry. The last is leadership skills. Likewise, the acquired skills of monitoring and managing purpose, people and process in ministry are also non-negotiable in getting from here to there.
These seven stones are foundational because they are basic blocks for building an effective minister in ministry. They are framed along three progressive tiers. The ground level for effective ministry defines who you are: calling and intimacy. The middle tier defines what you value: boundaries, management and re-creation. The top tier defines how you ought to relate: leadership and relational skills. No one wants to fail. Regardless of where we seek help to avoid it, ultimately we come back to self-help. Preventing Ministry Failure provides common sense observations and practical suggestions toward this end. It is probably most usage when ministers and caregivers use this resource book in a group setting. We learn best when in dialogues with others as we share our own experiences and seek collective wisdom in knowing what we ought to be and do.
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| Review submitted: 2009/9/9
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