Avoiding Pastoral Pitfalls: A Guide to Surviving and Thriving in Ministry

by James Osterhaus, Leighton Ford (Foreword by)

Overview

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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781683073703
Publisher:	Hendrickson Publishers, Incorporated
Publication date:	09/01/2021
Series:	Hendrickson Publishers
Pages:	304
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.40(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

James P. Osterhaus (PhD, American University) is a clinical psychologist and consultant with extensive experience helping individuals and organizations move through change, conflict, and reorganization. In addition to publishing over fifteen books and teaching graduate courses around the world, he has over thirty years of clinical experience working with families, couples, and individuals.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments xiii

Foreword Leighton Ford xv

Introduction 1

Part 1 Who Are You as a Leader?

1 The Well-Defined Leader 11

2 The Role of Anxiety in Our Lives 20

3 Processes That Surround Us 32

4 Building Trust 52

5 Shadow Living 65

6 Competing Values 80

Part 2 What Do You Do as a Leader?

7 You, the Leader 95

8 Critical Interpersonal Skills 111

Part 3 Getting Started

9 Questions to Ask When Considering a Call 133

10 The First Ninety Days in Your New Ministry 144

11 Culture-Change Road Map 156

Part 4 Negotiating Choppy Ministry Waters

12 Understanding Your Church's Organizational Model 175

13 Political Relations within Your Church 187

14 How to Effectively Manage Your Church 197

15 Dealing with Your Church's Governing Board 207

16 When Your Church Hits the Growth Ceiling 223

17 Surviving and Thriving in Church Conflict 236

18 Building a Lay Pastoral Care Ministry for Your Church 250

Part 5 Finishing Well

19 How to Successfully Leave a Congregation 273

20 Summing Up 279

Further Reading 283