Five Ministry Killers and How to Defeat Them

1:36 AM

Help for Frustrated Pastors - Including New Research From the Barna Group

by Charles Stone

Hardcover: 224 pages
Publisher: Bethany House (May 1, 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0764207059
ISBN-13: 978-0764207051

Description (Publisher Website)
What If You Could Find a Way to Renew Your Enthusiasm for Ministry?

You have that help in your hands. Deftly analyzing and applying the latest previously unpublished research, Charles Stone has identified major causes of frustration and burnout among pastors and church leaders. But the book doesn't stop there. Here is a practical plan that will:

* Show how to defeat obstacles with the potential to kill your ministry

* Illustrate healthy ways to respond to aggravating issues

* Minimize the draining effects ministry places on you and your family (with wise insights from Sherryl Stone, the author's wife)

* Demonstrate how to share with others what they can do to help

By learning to open up with vulnerability, own up with humility, show up with integrity, and speak up with courage, you can experience healing and renewed joy in service to Christ, your family, and your church.

~ 80% of pastors believe being in pastoral ministry has negatively affected their families

~ 70% say they have a lower self-image now than when they first started

~ 40% report serious conflict with a parishioner at least once per month

~ Only 1 of every 10 pastors will actually retire as a minister in some form

Being a pastor is hard, no doubt about it. Burnout is all too common. After serving 30+ years as a pastor, Dr. Charles Stone had enough. He went in search of the killer of ministry. Working with The Barna Group, LifeWay Research, and Christianity Today's NationalChristianPoll.com, he surveyed over 1,900 pastors and 1,000 non-pastors.

He found not one, but FIVE killers and he's calling them out in FIVE MINISTRY KILLERS and How to Defeat Them: Help for Frustrated Pastors.

Even better, he's telling pastors how to defeat the killer so that a ministry can live.

The pastor of Ginger Creek Community Church in suburban Chicago, Dr. Stone presents the Truth of God's Word to about 1,200 congregants each weekend. He has served in ministry over thirty years and, together with his daughter, is author of Daughters Gone Wild - Dads Gone Crazy.

More about the Author

Charles Stone, DMin, serves as senior pastor of Ginger Creek Community Church, in suburban Chicago. He has been in the ministry for 30 years, has published numerous articles in church and ministry magazines, and is the coauthor (with his daughter) of Daughters Gone Wild--Dads Gone Crazy. Charles has graduate degrees from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. He and his wife, Sherryl, have three adult children. For more information, visit www.charlesstone.net

Review
There is a lot of practical advice for those who are in ministry within these 200+ pages. While this book is mainly directed at Pastors, I think it would be helpful for anyone who is involved in any sort of ministry. Let's face it, burn out and temptation are huge problems for anyone who is in ministry, whether you lead the choir, teach Sunday school, lead a Bible Study or are a Deacon in your church. Rather than burying your head in the sand, Stone gives you practical ways to identify problems before they become "ministry killers", ways to conquer them and keep your ministry alive. This is one of those books that every Pastor should have on their shelf and it should be referred to on a regular basis.

Thanks to Glass Road Public Relations for providing me a copy of this book to review.