Getting Organized to Lead
Church Administration: Effective Leadership for Ministry by Charles A. Tidwell, Broadman, $8.95
Reviewed by David Wilkinson, pastor, Trinity Presbyterian Church, Oroville, California
Henry Ford said he took the church’s survival as a sign of God’s existence; no other enterprise run so poorly could stay in business. Charles Tidwell is concerned that the church cease “presuming on God” by living out Ford’s diagnosis.
Tidwell, professor of church administration at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, writes from experience in church administration and twenty years of classroom interaction. He understands the need for good administration, both for the glory of God and for the sanity of the pastor.
He knows the difficulty of “envisioning oneself as being at the pinnacle of ministry while laboring with rolled-up sleeves over an unusually cantankerous copy machine, with smeared ink gradually menacing the bottom of the roll in the sleeve.”
However, he does more than commiserate. Church Administration presents Tidwell’s prescription for change.
The book is encyclopedic, covering all the bases from the global (defining your purpose as a church, financing and constructing a building, enabling volunteers) to minutia (how to count money and even a checklist for keeping restrooms clean and well supplied).
He devotes a chapter to each of eight “functional areas” of administration: purpose, objectives, program (or ministry plan), organization, human resources, physical resources, financial resources, and control. This clear structure makes it easy to find help for where you itch. A helpful summary and a number of “learning activity suggestions” are listed at the end of each chapter.
The “Decalogue for Supervisors” in one appendix was, to me, alone worth the price of admission. It includes such commandments as:
“Thou shalt check appropriately on progress. Be sure you don’t nag by asking too soon or too frequently. Supervision can degenerate easily to ‘snoopervision.'”
“Thou shalt develop solution-minded workers. A supervisor’s beatitude might be: Blessed is the worker who suggests one or more possible solutions to every problem he brings.”
Tidwell declares that the “primary applications of this writing are likely to be in churches with congregational polity.” I found that true; its orientation is definitely baptistic. He even includes an appendix with suggested by-laws for use in a Baptist church.
One reason I read the book was to better understand my Baptist brothers. Although most of what he writes is applicable to church leaders no matter what the polity, some things he writes about I hope I never have to understand!
But as an example of the universally applicable, he writes about church objectives: “Leaders might withdraw from the busy lives they lead long enough to write some beautiful statements of objectives. They could have copies made, pass them out at the door on church meeting nights, and persuade those present to vote in favor of the statements. What would they have accomplished? Just about what they have so often accomplished when they have tried to lead people in this fashion: Their approval for the leaders to go ahead and try to do the job, or their pledge not to try to keep the leaders from going ahead. The vote of approval gained in such a manner usually means no more than, ‘It’s OK with us, if that’s the way you want to do it.’
“A meaningful vote of support,” Tidwell points out, “not only means ‘We are definitely in favor,’ but also ‘Count on us for whatever it takes to get the job done!'”
He reminds us, “People who have a real part in helping to shape the objectives are more likely to be motivated to give their support to help accomplish the objectives.”
Tidwell understands the need for deft handling of power by a pastor. He cautions: “Any church cause in which the pastor’s favor and support are not clearly perceived by the people is likely to have limited favor and support of the members.”
At the same time, a pastor “who has to call attention to the authority of an office probably has not learned how to rightly use whatever powers the office authorizes. … The power of a right idea . . . is much to be preferred to any authoritarian edict by virtue of any office.”
When asked about the perennial problem of leader burnout in churches, he pointed to Exodus 18 and the advice Jethro gave Moses on good management: Delegate, give manageable tasks, manage by exceptions, and make decisions on the lowest possible level. Jethro promised: “If you do this, and God so commands you, then you will be able to endure, and all this people also will go to their place in peace.”
Tidwell even includes an organizational chart to show how Moses had things organized before God intervened. (See illustration)
He points to the lack of a listing under Z. It’s purposeful; Moses had no time left for his wife, Zipporah.
Tidwell, like Jethro, is convinced good organization is God’s will for his church. Tidwell’s book will take us a long way toward better church administration.
As Tidwell says, “We owe it to God to do it better.”
Raising the Aim of Parish Counselors
The Caring Pastor by Charles F. Kemp, Abingdon, $9.95
Reviewed by Bob Barber, pastor, Huntsburg Congregational Church, Huntsburg, Ohio
“The parish pastor is in the front line of the mental health field whether he or she wants to be or not. In terms of numbers alone, pastors of parish churches are doing more counseling than is done by counseling specialists, whatever their setting or affiliation.” With that bold statement, Charles Kemp begins the reader’s tour of pastoral counseling.
Why another book on pastoral counseling? Do pastors need yet one more set of counseling blueprints?
Kemp responded, “Although friends of mine, none of the groundbreakers in the field were pastors. Added to that, most of the recent books are for specialists. The fact is, we are not psychotherapists; we are pastors amidst preparing sermons and doing funerals. Yet, pastors are in the forefront of counseling, not the specialists.” With fifty years of pastoral and teaching experience and his present ministry as a counseling consultant at University Christian Church in Fort Worth, Kemp aims his book directly at the parish setting. “Pastors think of themselves as second-rate. They are not. They have a tremendous role in the field of helping people,” he said in a phone interview.
Kemp communicates that feeling of pastoral worth and importance throughout this tour. He begins by surveying the foundations of pastoral counseling, providing a lucid look at pastoral counseling’s rich history.
Kemp continues to the framework for pastoral counseling, condensing major principles of several schools of psychotherapy. “The pastoral counselor,” he writes, “has much to learn from the psychotherapists. Primarily, what he or she has to learn centers in two fields: (1) personality theory, which helps the pastor understand parishioners, and (2) counseling methods and techniques, which give practical suggestions in dealing with specific situations.” He moves from Jung to Adler to Rogers to Frankl, to name a few. In two cogent chapters, Kemp distilled the essence of at least two dozen personality and counseling books in my library.
Kemp compliments all. He summarizes: “My own position in all this can be stated in three sentences: 1. All schools have some truth, 2. No school has all the truth, 3. None will replace the pastoral counselor.”
Kemp tells what to grasp from each area of thought but not what to avoid. When questioned, he noted, “There are definitely things to avoid. Take behavior modification, for instance; it can be taken too far, taking away individual freedom.”
Moving on, Kemp provides a refreshing twist to the tour. He doesn’t show us the main rooms which every one always sees, he takes us to those out-of-the-way rooms which, in the long run, may prove most useful. He explores what might seem like minor situations, but which can cause ministerial dilemmas for those not adequately acquainted with them.
You will not find discussions centered upon the more common topics, such as ministering to the sick or bereaved. “The pastor is going to do that all the time,” Kemp said, implying that reliable resources in these areas are readily available. “The pastor needs help exploring new areas.”
He helps us discover ways pastoral counseling can occur in unusual settings. He spotlights our involvement with “exceptional persons,” those with extraordinarily elevated or depressed mental abilities. Kemp claims, “If a pastor has a congregation of five hundred, by national averages that pastor will have from five to twenty-five persons who are very brilliant, and an equal number whose mental ability is well below the general average. … both groups need a ministry.”
He touches other ground: dealing with the needs of the rich and the poor, counseling fellow pastors, making pastoral counseling and preaching “mutual allies.” He makes a case for enabling people to simply relax and enjoy themselves, because “helping people have fun is a legitimate ministry.” This is only a partial list.
Kemp breathes new life into the clich “The pastor is in a unique role.”
“No, the pastor isn’t a vest pocket psychiatrist, but there is no greater privilege in life than to sit down and help someone come to greater self-understanding,” Kemp concluded in our interview. Indeed, that remains both the privilege and the responsibility of the pastor.
Harvesting the Baby-Boomers
Ministry with Young Couples: A Pastor’s Planbook by Douglas W. Johnson Abingdon, $6.95
Reviewed by Steve Harris, pastor, Evangelical Baptist Church, Sharon, Massachusetts
The baby-boom generation, those millions of young couples a few years each side of thirty, is now advancing through American society like a pig in a python. Unless that process finds them moving into our churches, the future of American Christianity may be in doubt.
That’s Douglas W. Johnson’s provocative thesis in his recently published Ministry with Young Couples. Johnson, a United Methodist pastor, provides a helpful examination of the couples in this largest of age groups, highlighting how the church can reach them.
“If the church is to pass on its Christian values to the next generation, it must work with young couples”-not an easy task, admits Johnson.
Young couples are a unique bunch: affluent (although only 5 percent qualify as yuppies), better educated than their parents, mobile, competitive, deeply concerned about health and self-improvement, and greatly affected by their peers. A talented and discriminating crowd, they want to be associated with success.
“Young couples don’t come to church out of habit or because there isn’t anything else to do on Sunday morning,” Johnson observes. “They come when they believe the church has something worthwhile to offer. And if this church has something better than that church, they’ll go there.”
When they do come (based largely on their perception of the pastor and an accepting peer group), young couples can greatly strengthen a church. They can be energetic, innovative, and future oriented; they’re great risk takers. Of course, those same qualities viewed from another angle can be seen not as assets but liabilities.
Young couples harbor their share of hurts and needs. They face life’s biggest decisions (Should we get married? Where should we live? Should we have children? What careers will we choose?) in a relatively brief time span.
Despite-or because of-their credit card sleight of hand, many are struggling financially. In many cases, owning their own home is a dying dream. Their parents are becoming a source of stress. The work/marriage/family balancing act, especially in two-income households, has never been harder. High-tech career competition is already producing cases of premature burnout. Changing sexual roles and the sexual revolution with all its casualties have affected this generation like none before.
“Despite their strengths, many of them are insecure,” Johnson says. “The greatest thing we can offer them is acceptance and love.”
Johnson pushes that acceptance to the inclusion of nonmarried and homosexual couples in young-couple ministries. Johnson, from an evangelical background, calls his viewpoint as much pragmatic as theological. This controversial position will no doubt be a problem for many who read this book; it was for me. For all the controversy, however, Johnson doesn’t dwell on the point.
The book’s strength is its practical advice for pastors and churches who presently have no ministry to young couples-but want one. It provides a good overview and workable suggestions. One whole chapter is devoted to “illustrative program ideas.” As a pastor in a small congregation with few young couples, I appreciated his encouraging advice, such as:
Start small. You don’t need dozens of young couples. In fact, it might be better to start with three to five couples gathered socially and grow gradually, rather than attempt a big-bang extravaganza.
Develop interest groups. A father of two months recently asked me: “Why don’t churches have support groups for new parents like the social service agencies do?” A mild rebuke, but a great suggestion.
Johnson seconds that. Young couples have a myriad of interests: the environment, day care, leisure, politics, personal fitness, and diet. Those interests can be a natural starting point for small-group interaction and outreach.
Be personal. Young couples have grown up in a computerized, impersonal world. The more personal we can be, the more positively they respond. Translation: From now on my visitor letters will be hand-written notes. In a small congregation, I can do that, but maybe all pastors should consider at least a handwritten P.S.
Do it well. “Young couples want high-quality stuff,” says Johnson. “They’ve grown up with TV, and that has shown them high quality is possible. Therefore, they’ve come to want it, even expect it.”
I initially objected: “Isn’t an emphasis on high quality merely another way we ‘pander’ to the hard-to-please?”
“No, it’s not a matter of indulging whims. They are pushing the church to do things well. And we need that push,” responded Johnson.
Consider the nursery. “Young couples have come to expect excellence in the care of their children,” Johnson notes, “and the church nursery had better be more than just an available room if it desires an effective ministry to those young parents.”
Johnson considers young couples both the source and the sustenance of new life in the church. If we pastors and our churches buy that-and all the evidence suggests we should-this is a book from which we can benefit greatly.
NEW AND NOTEWORTHY
Healing of Memories by David Seamands, Victor, $11.95
David Seamands knows comforting words in a Sunday sermon sometimes come up short. Some festering memories require the concentrated prayer of a caring pastor. Overreacting to the Roman Catholic use of the confessional, Protestants, Seamands writes, “have given up one of our greatest privileges-being temporary assistants to the Spirit as his instruments to bring forgiveness.” While this may be new terrain for some pastors, Seamands explores this topic with sophisticated sensitivity and a winsome style.
In story after vivid story, Seamands shows ways to walk with another through an aching past or a searing memory. While he reviews the kind of preaching that can foster positive, healing images of God, Seamands focuses on the personal intervention of a pastor or counselor. He discusses particulars like noticing symptoms that indicate a need, conducting the counseling and prayer time, and scheduling follow-up. Throughout, the book maps the painful, wary journey that faces the inwardly suffering as they wend their way toward wholeness.
Healing the Wounded by John White and Ken Blue, Intervarsity, $11.95
“Church discipline that takes sin seriously is almost extinct,” argue John White and Ken Blue. Lulled by growing numbers and material prosperity, congregations too often ignore blatant sin in their midst. Pastors and church leaders assume weekend teaching conferences or week-long ethical emphases are enough to mold biblical holiness. But sometimes, the authors suggest, only corrective discipline brings repentance, reconciliation, and restoration.
They buttress their conclusion with case histories and biblical and psychological research. They tackle questions like: What if the person does not acknowledge wrongdoing? What if sin persists? How do you deal with gossip? The authors believe churches willing to work at the discipline modeled in this book will deepen relationships and uncover new spiritual power.
Strategy of Service by June A. Williams, Zondervan, $5.95
June Williams has found that although Christians know they should be Christ’s hands and feet for the needy of their neighborhoods, most churches have trouble knowing how or where to start. Growing up in the church, she explains, she was taught how to pray and witness to her faith, but never how to reach out to the helpless, lonely, and sick. Only experience as a nurse-midwife and social worker opened her eyes and convinced her that churches can and must reclaim the ministry of servanthood.
Strategy of Service distills Williams’s years of experience leading workshops with congregations and serving as outreach coordinator in an inner-city church. She tells how to listen to the needy, befriend those who slip through the welfare cracks, and enlist the church in finding the community’s hurting. She tells of congregations’ successes and joys along with their fumbles and hard lessons, all in a way that challenges the church leader to more intentional strategies of Christian caring.
Pastors in Ministry by William Hulme, Milo Brekke, and William Behrens, Augsburg, $8.95
As a professor of pastoral care, William Hulme grew concerned about unfulfilled pastors, a number of whom were once his students. His alarm prompted him, in association with Milo Brekke and William Behrens, to survey hundreds of parish pastors to get to the root of their frustrations.
The results provided this readable book’s material on a spectrum of ministerial issues. Their data and conclusions shed light on questions like: Why are pastors least inclined toward involvement in youth work? Why are some pastors uneasy around strong lay leadership? Why do pastors hesitate to do evangelism? Among other things, they discovered that clergy dissatisfied with their devotional life experience more stress in other areas of ministry and feel more anxiety about their salary.
The Church Computer Manual by Lowell Brown and Wes Haystead, Tyndale, $12.95
Computers are cropping up everywhere, and increasingly so in churches, claim authors Lowell Brown and Wes Haystead. Computers have begun to change the way churches do budgets and handle mass mailings. They open new possibilities for charting attendance or filing sermon illustrations. Far from depersonalizing ministry, this book suggests, computers free staff from office tasks to allow more time for people ministry
This book’s numerous worksheets help church planners decide how and when to buy a computer. Helpful cautions include, “When you buy a computer, [selecting] software always comes first.” A glossary explains terms like menu driven program and record fields. The authors speak from experience on acquiring and using a church computer without deflating the budget or alienating the board.
-Reviewed by Timothy Jones
Christ Our Peace Church of the Brethren
The Woodlands, Texas
Copyright © 1986 by the author or Christianity Today/Leadership Journal. Click here for reprint information on Leadership Journal.
