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.

How do you deal with the unspoken, yet continuing dilemmas of your ministry? - Are you seen as a good luck charm? - Are you put on a pedestal of undue adoration? - Are you discouraged in evangelism and stewardship efforts? Pastoral Pitfalls is an excellent tool to help you deal with these and similar problems. It is a resource to be used in small group discussions, in professional retreat centers, and as a practical pastoral instruction guide in seminary classes. Each chapter offers a brief short story, which deals with a daily pastoral dilemma. A study guide concludes each chapter. The guide assists you to think more deeply about the chapter's concern. Questions, meditations, and prayer focus are built into each study guide. Peter Garrison is pastor of Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Burlingame, California. The author leads workshops in pastoral support with his own "clergy cluster." This book is an outcome that addresses problems Garrison sees in his own ministry and in the pastorate-at-large.

My journey as a pastor had quite a few ups and downs. Although there were many aspects of serving in full-time ministry that I loved, there were more things that happened along the way that made a negative impact on both myself and my family. After I resigned from the pastorate, it took several years of forgiving and getting plugged in to a healthy church before I really began to heal from the hurt. Whether you've spent your entire career as a pastor or if you have recently thrown in the towel, Why Pastors Quit is an easy-to-read book that will encourage you and make you ask the question: What can I do to help change the statistics?

Practical Ways to Support and Care for Your Pastor Do you pray for your pastors? Do you encourage them? Do you have realistic expectations for them? The office of pastor is simultaneously a rewarding and draining position. Pastors today have immense pressure on their shoulders and they need the support of their congregations. Peter Orr has written Fight for Your Pastor as an exhortation for church members to stand behind their pastors through the difficulties of ministry. Orr specifies ways in which congregations can be intentional in caring for church leaders, including prayer, encouragement, generosity, and forgiveness. Featuring stories from current pastors about their struggles, this book is perfect for thoughtful church members eager to understand the weight of their pastors' positions and support leaders in their important ministry. For Thoughtful Christians: Specifically those wanting to know more about their pastors and how to care for them Current: Features insight from pastors about their personal experiences in ministry Applicable: Gives practical examples of how to love and care for pastors, including specific prayers for church leaders and the best ways to encourage them

American church clergy and their families are suffering from the effects of Twenty-First Century ministry and the stresses of the local church, according to research from the Fuller Institute, Barna Group, and Pastoral Care Inc. Much of the research in this area and its effects on the clergy and churches occurred more than a decade ago. Through updated research and surveys of current Southern Baptist ministers in the Baptist General Convention of Texas, this thesis will offer solutions to how these dangers can be lessened or alleviated. Through the presentation of updated statistics, the seriousness of this problem for the modern church will be made apparent for an examination of the attitudes toward the pastor in the local church. Solutions will be offered that will result in training opportunities for seminary students and current ministers on how to navigate these treacherous waters of ministry and emerge on the other side with stronger ministries, families, and churches ready to face the new normal of doing ministry in the Twenty-First Century.

Charles Stone's research on thousands of pastors and ministry leaders demonstrates the dangers of approval-motivated leadership. Bringing together biblical insights and neuroscience findings, Stone shows why we fall into people-pleasing patterns and what we can do to overcome these tendencies for more effective ministry.

Richard Eslinger discusses with insight, humor, and concision what he sees as the most critical pitfalls in the various contexts of preaching and offers practical strategies for avoiding them.