7 Practices of Effective Ministry
Greetings everyone! I recently finished reading 7 Practices of Effective Ministry by Andy Stanley, Reggie Joiner, and Lane Jones. This book is very practical. It is very similar to Simple Church by Thomas Rainer and Eric Geiger. I highly recommend every church leader read those two books. I think I have blogged about Simple Church some time ago. I will blog about 7 Practices of Effective Ministry here now.
This book is divided in to two parts. Part one is Getting in the Game: Ray's Story. This story is fictional. It is about a man named Ray. He is the Senior Minister of a church he helped plant ten years ago. The church has grown a lot over the years. With each step in the growth, the church has added new programs. Most (if not all) of these new programs are headed by Ray. Now he is simply worn out by all of these new hats he has to ware. And now the church has a board meeting about a new pre-school the church will host. Of course Ray would head that too. Another hat for him to ware. A friend of his gave him a ticket to a baseball game for Sunday. It was supposed to be a day game. But a current win streak has the home team with in a game of first place in their division. ESPN TV picks up the game and game time is moved to 7pm. Ray was excited about the game before the game time change. He is considering not attending the game and going to the meeting. His friend who gave him the ticket calls him and they talk about weather Ray should go to the meeting or go to the game. His friend says he needs to do what he's got to do, but he thinks Ray and the whole church would benefit better if he went to the game. They hand up. The next call is from the head of the board. Meeting is canceled. Ray is very relieved and goes to the game at peace. He finds out he gets a pre-mo parking spot and discovers he's siting with the owner of the baseball team in the owner's box! Ray even gets the VIP treatment. Pretty awesome deal! During the game the team's owner Pete gives Ray the 7 practices of effective ministry.
Part two is Putting the 7 Practices to Work. Now the seven practices of effective ministry are:
1. Clarify the Win: Define what is important at every level of the organization.
2. Think Steps, Not Programs: Before you start anything, make sure it takes you where you need to go.
3. Narrow the Focus: Do fewer things in order to make a greater impact.
4. Teach Less for More: Say only what you need to say to the people who need to hear it.
5. Listen to Outsiders: Focus on who you're trying to reach, not on who you're trying to keep.
6. Replace Yourself: Learn to hand off what you do.
7.Work On It: Take time to evaluate your work- and to celebrate your wins.
Each 0f the chapters discusses each of them in great detail. It is a wonderful volume that every church leader should read, along with Simple Church.
Let's get in the game! God bless!
This book is divided in to two parts. Part one is Getting in the Game: Ray's Story. This story is fictional. It is about a man named Ray. He is the Senior Minister of a church he helped plant ten years ago. The church has grown a lot over the years. With each step in the growth, the church has added new programs. Most (if not all) of these new programs are headed by Ray. Now he is simply worn out by all of these new hats he has to ware. And now the church has a board meeting about a new pre-school the church will host. Of course Ray would head that too. Another hat for him to ware. A friend of his gave him a ticket to a baseball game for Sunday. It was supposed to be a day game. But a current win streak has the home team with in a game of first place in their division. ESPN TV picks up the game and game time is moved to 7pm. Ray was excited about the game before the game time change. He is considering not attending the game and going to the meeting. His friend who gave him the ticket calls him and they talk about weather Ray should go to the meeting or go to the game. His friend says he needs to do what he's got to do, but he thinks Ray and the whole church would benefit better if he went to the game. They hand up. The next call is from the head of the board. Meeting is canceled. Ray is very relieved and goes to the game at peace. He finds out he gets a pre-mo parking spot and discovers he's siting with the owner of the baseball team in the owner's box! Ray even gets the VIP treatment. Pretty awesome deal! During the game the team's owner Pete gives Ray the 7 practices of effective ministry.
Part two is Putting the 7 Practices to Work. Now the seven practices of effective ministry are:
1. Clarify the Win: Define what is important at every level of the organization.
2. Think Steps, Not Programs: Before you start anything, make sure it takes you where you need to go.
3. Narrow the Focus: Do fewer things in order to make a greater impact.
4. Teach Less for More: Say only what you need to say to the people who need to hear it.
5. Listen to Outsiders: Focus on who you're trying to reach, not on who you're trying to keep.
6. Replace Yourself: Learn to hand off what you do.
7.Work On It: Take time to evaluate your work- and to celebrate your wins.
Each 0f the chapters discusses each of them in great detail. It is a wonderful volume that every church leader should read, along with Simple Church.
Let's get in the game! God bless!
posted by Zack | 11:09 AM
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