Keys to Effective Motivation
by Reginald McDonough Broadman Press, $3.95, pb.
Reviewed by Terry C. Muck, Executive Editor, LEADERSHIP
“I do not believe a leader can control the motivation of those he leads. He seeks to provide a climate in which persons can motivate themselves.”
After drawing this important distinction between motivation and manipulation, Reginald McDonough outlines four basic principles or keys that church leaders can use to create the positive climate conducive to motivated behavior.
McDonough makes it clear that these four keys spring from a biblical view of man. God values man highly-so should we. Since God gave man the freedom to choose, motivation must come from within each person. Man is sinful and self-centered-his egoistic needs motivate him. Since God gives the believer unlimited power, man’s needs can be altered to reflect God’s will.
Key Number One: Persons are more highly motivated in an environment that has order, predictability, structure, and stability. The real threat to stability is the emotional upheaval brought on by change.
Well thought-out change stimulates growth, but only when presented so that stability or the promise of stability is not compromised. Pastors who care for their people, show confidence in new projects, and have expertise in executing plans blunt the emotional blows of change. Frequent, well-planned communications bolster members laid low by threatening changes. Also, timing can make or break a proposed change. McDonough cites a statistic supplied by Lyle Schaller: most growing churches do not begin their significant growth patterns until after the pastor’s fourth anniversary.
Key Number Two: Persons are more highly motivated in a climate where they feel themselves to be a vital part of a team with a significant mission. Effective leadership, clearly defined responsibilities, and shared information put the team in teamwork. Confidence soars when a shoulder is near to lean on when the job gets tough. Jesus prayed the essence of teamwork in John 17:11: “Holy Father, keep them safe by the power of your name so that they may be one as you and I are one.”
Key Number Three: Persons are more highly motivated in a climate where their sense of selfworth is affirmed and enhanced. Leaders with high self-esteem are most effective in helping others improve their self-esteem. McDonough suggests that awarding merit badges and ribbons, although helpful, is not enough-you must make sure the troops know they’re loved and respected. A worker treated as an integral part of the church’s agenda will fight to complete his tasks.
Key Number Four: Persons are more highly motivated in a climate where they are challenged to 1) develop their full potential and 2) commit their energies to meaningful ideals and objectives. We call this highest form of motivation self-actualization.
To build a climate where self-actualization can take place, a leader must project a vision of where the church is headed. Workers must see that the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow can be achieved only by a creative meshing of their talents with others in the church, and a faithful striving to do their best. McDonough says self-actualization of members is a leader’s most challenging task.
Power to motivate, McDonough adds, can come only from a fifth foundational key-prayer. “Prayer is an ingredient of motivation that cannot be explained by visible cause and effect. Jesus said, ‘Ask and it shall be given to you; seek and you shall find; knock and it shall be opened to you’ (Matt. 7:7). Prayer changes things . . . it should permeate all that is done to provide a climate of stability, teamwork, affirmation, and challenge.”
The Naked Shepherd
by G. Curtis Jones Word, Inc., $5.95 pb
Reviewed by C. Neil Strait Pastor, First Church of the Nazarene Lansing, Mich.
G. Curtis Jones has taken us right into the heart of the pastor in his volume, The Naked Shepherd. It is all here-the hurts and heartaches, the joys and failures, the risks and rewards of pastoral ministry.
This book is not written by a man “fed up” with the responsibilities and roles of the pastor. Jones has a deep love for the pastoral office and a wholesome respect for its calling. His frank disclosures are written within the boundaries of fairness.
Jones writes in a myth-destroying way. He says: “Whatever the sex, circumstances, locale, or denomination, there are some who see the preacher as a kind of spiritual prostitute, exchanging concern and compassion for cash.” He then proceeds to set the context of ministry in proper perspective.
He has a high regard for preaching. “The well-conceived, well-delivered sermon has transforming power.”He encourages laymen to take the initiative in making preachers better. “Preachers make churches, and churches make preachers. One obvious place where this assertion is actualized is when a congregation says to its pastor, ‘Look, we have called you to lead us into a greater understanding of the Christian faith; arrange your schedule, study, and prayer habits to allow ample time for personal communion and growth. You are our spiritual leader. We want to share this ministry with you. let us relieve you of routine chores and unreasonable assignments. Tell us what should be done.’ “
The emotional life of the pastor is carefully examined. “No one is more pleased or perplexed by life’s surprises and heartbreaking sorrows than the concerned pastor.” Jones later admonishes, “. . . clerics are prime candidates for breakdowns. They are especially vulnerable to disorders and diseases related to emotional involvements, tensions, and anxiety. Like heavily laden vehicles, clergy must stop periodically to evaluate their load, to see if they are becoming workaholics- whether personal concerns are too overwhelming. One must retreat now and again to gain perspective, recoup, and replenish self. It is more therapeutic to learn from one’s wounds than to lick them!”
Jones also reminds us that “no guardian angel (sits) on the gatepost of the manse keeping the family safe and comfortable, relevant and religious.” He cautions that the creeping divorce rate among pastors must be taken seriously, as well as drinking problems, laziness, poor credit, unpredictable marriages, and problem children.
He says what few have affirmed in our era: “. . . one of the noblest of all professions is that of housewife and mother. She stirs dreams in her children, demonstrates love, and practices faith. This is where the art of living begins.”
This chapter about “l he Family” illustrates the importance of keeping family priorities. Jones relates that amidst the busy schedules of the parsonage “we supported one another.” He tells of attending piano recitals and sports events in which their five sons were involved. “Six of us drove 1400 miles in two days to see DeWitt play against Harvard. Years later, we drove 1000 miles to see Paul, a sophomore, start for Yale in football. Finally, we flew halfway across the country to see Peter run in the Boston Marathon.”
One of the best family “support experiences” occurred after Dr. Jones had performed an early evening wedding for his oldest son. Due to leave from the airport at midnight for an assignment in Africa, he arrived to find the bride and groom there with his family to see him off.
“His Frustrations” is a chapter that covers a wide area of the pastor’s life: identity crises, titles, double standards. Nowhere are double standards more obvious and disturbing than in financial matters. Members, for instance, often suggest that the pastor’s salary be frozen because his wife is working or he is receiving income from other sources. Meanwhile, the same members are pursuing all kinds of profitable business deals.
Financial incongruities surface in the strangest places. Jones shares a powerful illustration of a wealthy deacon “who periodically takes his pastor and wife to the country club for dinner-a plush place where the annual dues are twice the amount he gives his church. All during dinner the deacon complains about the escalating church budget.”
For the light The Naked Sheppherd sheds on personal and church finances, it is a valuable resource for pastors as well as laymen. But the book is much more than that: it challenges readers to commitment and change.
The Care and Feeding ofVolunteers
by Douglas W. Johnson Abingdon Press, $3.95, pb.
Reviewed by Daniel W. Pawley,Assistant Editor, LEADERSHIP
In trying to recruit volunteers, many pastors assume that persons who make their livelihood in certain professions are willing to use their expertise in volunteer positions and tasks for the church. Not true, says Johnson.
One prospective volunteer explained, “The last thing I want to do on Sunday morning is teach kids. I do it all week long and I need a rest-for my sake and theirs.” Because many volunteers don’t want to be put into “vocational boxes,” pastors need to give them opportunities to use skills outside of their professional training and experience.
This requires discovering their personal interests because, as Johnson explains, “When interest is the key rather than vocation (for recruiting volunteers), some deeper insights into people’s lives are essential.
“Life cycles are important determiners of interest,” he says. “A person in the mid-thirties, for instance, may have interest in small children or in the counseling of young married couples.”
Personal crises also indicate interests. “Giving birth to a child with a congenital problem may lead persons into invaluable personal counseling within the church. Or persons dealing with an elderly parent, or who are becoming senior citizens themselves, may be interested in helping others adapt to the aging process.” Such interests can be tremendous assets to healthy congregations. The important thing, says Johnson, is to “keep in close touch with the lives of your people.”
The chapter called “Giving Assignments” offers practical help for administrators of volunteer church programs. “Giving assignments and providing instructions is like balancing on a tightrope between treating a person as a peer with sufficient experience, and assuming that the individual knows little or nothing about the task.” Johnson urges pastors to always assume that volunteers are not acquainted with the tasks to which they’ve been assigned.
Some churches post job listings in obvious places. Then, when a member expresses interest, the minister or a staff person contacts him and explains what skills are required, the amount of time needed to complete the job, and what support will be provided. Other churches use job descriptions which “include detailed outlines of each activity as well as reporting and responsibility procedures.” Both systems work well because they require that the pastor be specific.
Johnson urges pastors to be candid about the amount of time necessary for volunteer jobs. “When there is no firm idea about time commitments, disruption of personal and family schedules may become intolerable.
At one church a volunteer was recruited to take charge of a dramatic production. He was informed that the time requirement would be only one night a week, and one weekend evening for a twomonth period. But the administrator who had delegated the task did not take into account any rehearsal changes or the extra time needed to present the play. The misrepresentation was not deliberate, but it created strain and frustration for the volunteer.
Later in the book, Johnson constructs a four-point planning process which volunteers can adopt for efficient programming. By identifying purposes, establishing goals, identifying resources and personnel, and implementing agreed-upon strategies, volunteer programs will have better direction.
According to Johnson, the leader makes decisions based on input from those under him, he counsels his volunteers at each step of the program, and he solicits public approval and support so his volunteers know they are appreciated.
The final chapter provides insight into effective training procedures. Training is a two-part process. First, supply general information and instructions to the volunteers. Second, give personalized attention. “During the first part,” the author says, “it’s important that each volunteer receive the same information. This includes discussions of the general goals of the church, and the quality expected from each volunteer.” With this as background, the specific details of each task can be administered.
Because training deals with more than skill instruction, interpersonal relations should be closely watched during the training. “Pastors should watch for traits in a person’s manner that could make him or her less than effective for a certain job.”
Most churches have found that on-the-job training is the best training. To achieve the best results, the church should provide some kind of practicum for its new volunteers. “This is best done,” says Johnson, “by immersing them into their jobs with the support and assistance of a more experienced person. The length of the practicum will vary, but it should be limited to three sessions.”
Finally, the training of volunteers is not complete without follow-up. Wise pastors will watch for trouble spots in the work of their volunteers and provide assistance until the work is done right. “But,” Johnson warns, “follow-up should not become a time in which the pastor takes over the job.”
Communication in Pulpit and Parish
by Merrill R. Abbey Westminster Press, $8.95
Reviewed by H. Benton Lutz, Pastor, St. Stephen Lutheran Church, Williamsburg, Va.
“When he (the minister) was ordained, a Bible was placed in his hands as he received the solemn commission: ‘Take thou authority . . . to preach the Word of God, and to administer the Holy Sacraments in the congregation.’ “
Thus begins the authority and responsibility of the minister to communicate. Merrill R. Abbey says, “Ordination never made a man worth hearing,” an observation that makes this book worth reading. He lays out exactly what is involved in the responsibility of communication.
He begins by identifying three major, and progressively complex, conceptions of communication theory.
First is the Aristotelian Triad which has us fix our attention on three elements: speaker, speech, and audience.
Then comes the Shannon-Weaver model of communication. It is a bit more complex in that it identifies five elements: source, encoding, signal, decoding, destination.
The third model Abbey identifies is the S M C R model: Source, Message, Channel, Receiver. This model allows an analysis of both source and receiver in communication skills, attitudes, knowledge, and culture.
For example, in analyzing the
knowledge level of the receiver of the message, suggested questions are given: 1) Does the audience know a problem exists? 2) How has the audience formulated the problem? 3) How much information does the audience have? 4) Has the auditor considered alternate sources of action? 5) What criteria will the audience apply? 6) Has the audience committed itself on the question?
What makes this book so useful is the way Abbey peppers technical communication theory with practical application.
As an early step in sermon preparation, Abbey suggests writing down the initials of a dozen or more parishioners with whom you have had some significant pastoral contact in the preceding week. Opposite each set of initials, write a brief sentence stating the need of that person. This can help make your sermon more specific.
He urges the preacher to monitor mediums that listen to all kinds of people, such as Bill Moyers’ “Listening to America. “
An understanding of media is very important to understand the receivers of the church’s message. “Surveys reveal that the average 18-year-old youth has watched 15,000 hours of television and has seen 500 feature-length motion pictures-has spent nearly 16,000 hours with these two media alone. In comparison, from kindergarten through high school, he has had only 10,800 hours of formal instruction.”
In a practical way, Abbey explores what influence this exposure has on a person. He says one result is “we are growing less patient with the point-by-point development of an idea. Presentation may have to begin ‘where the action is’-the most moving part of the story or the outcome of the process-and move back to pick up parts of the rationale or background as they become relevant.”
The most important ingredient of preaching is the person of the preacher. “When words are . . . embodied in a convincing person, they become a medium as powerful as any the electronic media has produced.”
Abbey quotes William A. Quayle: “Preaching is the art of giving, by means of voice, gesture, brains, and heart, one’s self. It is a vast trouble to ‘construct a preacher.’ “
“To ‘construct a preacher’-or any authentic communicative ministry- calls for continuous growth toward wholeness of mind,” says Abbey.
How? He urges preachers to establish good habits of time management. He suggests the utilization of two desks, one for administration and one for study. Doing both from the same desk can be endlessly distracting. He also encourages creation of a “devotional center” which provides for prayer and Bible study. He suggests, “Keep a devotional diary.”
Abbey gives the reader practical ideas about how to solicit sermon feedback. The sermon seminar, as he calls it, is a chance for the lay people to participate in the construction of the sermon. The talk-back session gives opportunity for reaction. There can also be feedback teams that rotate the responsibility of reacting to each sermon. These groups would meet with the preacher after the service.
This book has excellent chapters on the Biblical Message, Teaching a Witnessing Church, Counseling from a Pulpit Base, Exploring Innovative Forms of Proclamation, Releasing the Dynamics of the Idea, Creating a Communicative Design, Achieving Interactive Interest, Fashioning Substance that Communicates, Evolving a Communicative Style, and Getting the Message Heard.
Pastoral Care: Its Roots and Renewal
by Herbert T. Mayer John Knox Press, $14.00
Reviewed by Marshall Shelley, graduate student, Denver Conservative Baptist Theological Seminary
Despite the time management experts and their neat lists of priorities, most pastors find the ministry a juggling act. At least five elements must be involved for effective biblical ministry, and these elements defy ranking one above another.
As Herbert Mayer defines them, the minister/juggler must simultaneously keep aloft “worship of the triune God; the practice of warm and intimate fellowship; the practice of self-giving service to all who are in need; the giving of courageous witness that manifests to people that those witnessing are followers of Jesus Christ . . . and finally, the practice of Christian nurture, that is, the practice of mutual education, encouragement, and consolation.”
In addition, the pastor’s style, authority, and preaching must be able to tie his “act” together.
With the hope of providing concrete examples of proper pastoral balance, Mayer, professor of biblical and historical theology at Seminex in St. Louis, has provided fourteen “docu-drama” cameos of pastors in action. These range from the precedent-setting Paul of Tarsus to Ambrose of Milan to Martin Luther to Francis Asbury. The last three pastors considered are fictional composites created by Mayer, but nevertheless are realistic and insightful into the tensions tearing at contemporary church leaders.
Mayer’s ability to blend imagination with history gives the book an up-tempo pace that laymen or clergy can enjoy. His historical research has also uncovered some fascinating tidbits from the church fathers that keep the reader awake, as well as provide a tribute to the pragmatism of the early church. For instance, Tertullian describes the communion service and then says, “After this, the hands are washed and lamps are lit, and each one, according to his ability to do so reads the Holy Scriptures or is invited into the center to sing a hymn to God. This is a test of how much he has drunk.”
The basic message of the book, however, shows how men of God have demonstrated pastoral care throughout the centuries. Most of them have struggled with maintaining a balance among Mayer’s five essential elements, and Mayer points out areas where they succeeded and areas they neglected.
Most of the observations were fair judgments. Ambrose of Milan, for instance, was criticized for his overly elevated view of the priestly office and not allowing lay people to be involved in meeting one another’s needs.
Mayer’s storytelling ability illustrates the point powerfully by describing how Ambrose purchased the freedom of a large number of Parthian slaves, not by allowing the lay people to raise the money, but by unilaterally selling church furnishings to provide the ransom.
In other cases, Mayer may be a bit less than fair. Jonathan Edwards, for instance, in a fictionalized narrative told from his wife’s point of view, is presented as underestimating the power of lingering sin in a person’s life even after conversion. Mayer finds Edwards guilty of imbalance because he “did not understand the problems and agonies that went with being human.” His view of an exalted Christ, Mayer claims, prevented him from preaching a human, forgiving Christ who could bring comfort to hurting Puritans.
In actuality, Edwards was fighting to restore a balance in a dead church. Mayer seems to forget that an abstract, perfect balance probably doesn’t exist. In this world, ministry is almost always a matter of correctives-making up for past deficiencies.
On the whole, however, Mayer’s character sketches are excellent reminders of what pastoral ministry involves. He speaks of John Chrysostom’s personal discipline and commitment to the spoken Word as a source of healing; Martin Luther’s emphasis on the importance of the gift of forgiveness and how it should be shared among the congregation; and Francis Asbury’s determination to find uniquely American forms for ministry, and his creation of small groups to encourage one another to holiness.
John Calvin, often caricatured as severe and tyrannical, is pictured as genuinely seeking to find a way to establish “fraternal correction,” a step back toward the early church’s pattern of constant, mutual admonition. Calvin’s Geneva was, as Mayer comments, “a happy halfway house between the medieval Roman penitential system and the shapelessness that characterizes most of present-day Protestantism.”
The book is a valuable source of examples and thought-provoking questions which help today’s ministers focus on maintaining that precarious balance of whole and holy pastoral care.
So You’re the Pastor’s Wife by Ruth Senter Zondervan Publishing House, $5.95 Reviewed by Martha G. Reapsome, Area Coordinator, Neighborhood Bible Studies
“What really matters is not to whom we are married, or what roles we happen to fill in life, but how we respond to the life that God has set before us. Herein lies the thread that draws us together as wives in the process of learning godlike responses to the tension points of life.”
Ruth Senter, a pastor’s wife and PK, shares her struggles honestly. She responds biblically to situations common to every pastor’s wife.
“The Bible shows me people in process, and I take heart. They made it-not in the shade, but under a hot, scorching sun. And the more I know about the hot, scorching sun in their lives, the more aware I am of the grace, love, and power of God . . . the same God who is around for me today.
“Admitting humanness” is one lesson learned under that sun. Humanness is hard to face because we like to have those to whom we are ministering look up to us. Senter recalls an incident in which she handed down pat formulas from her pedestal as a pastor’s wife to help a young friend. The friend did not respond; but when the author came down off her pedestal and made herself vulnerable, the friend responded with willingness to talk, pray, and grow.
Another lesson learned is to say no. Pastor’s wives often say yes to avoid the guilt that arises from saying no. Senter uses this truth to emphasize that guilt in a Christian’s life is often self-imposed, not God-imposed. “It does not come from deliberate sin, but from my own insecurities.” These insecurities are caused by failing to live up to self-created standards and those created by other people. “It is then that guilt becomes a destructive force in my life.”
Pastors and pastors’ wives also find it a humbling, painful process to learn to need others. “Somewhere along the line,” says Senter, “we’ve gotten the notion that ministers cannot be ministered to. We didn’t get it from Jesus. He washed his disciples’ feet, but he also allowed them to wash his.” She suggests that we’re so busy washing other people’s feet that we neglect to have our own washed. Consequently, we create lofty, lonely positions for ourselves by eliminating our need for others.
Probably the most helpful section of the book is the chapter dealing with roles and how to cope with them. Senter points out that roles-mother, wife, daughter, friend, teacher, writer-are only functions that grow out of the gifts God has given us.
She recalls observing the most effective pastor’s wife she has ever known. “She knew what to do with roles in life because she knew what to do with herself.” Because her roles were a logical extension of her inner self, she was able to minister joyfully and sincerely.
It’s important to know what to do with our gifts; but it’s of greater value to make sure “the real us”- our personalities, temperaments, attitudes, feelings-are properly developed. Only then can we minister effectively.
Copyright © 1980 by the author or Christianity Today/Leadership Journal. Click here for reprint information on Leadership Journal.
