Church Leadership

In the past few decades, the church has experienced rapid and distressing change. Hard-working pastors and leaders often know they need to embrace diversity, creatively engage younger generations, and equip their people to love their neighbors. But since they don't know how to make the changes needed, they feel stuck and wonder, "What do I do now? For these dedicated yet drained church leaders, this research-informed resource from the team at the Fuller Youth Institute offers a clear roadmap to faithfully and effectively navigate change that will revitalize your church.

The church is the origin, means, and end of missions. Scripture calls on missionaries to start and strengthen churches where new believers—and more missionaries—can grow. But today, many Christians downplay the role of the church in favor of pragmatism and parachurch ministries, weakening the mission's cause.

Every generation of Christian leaders for the past 2000 years has had to face landmines that are potential killers, even on the best of days. Some are universal and some cultural, but all are dangerous. We shouldn’t be shocked; after all, when we read through Scripture, we see that only 30% of leaders actually finish well.

What Is a Healthy Church Member? takes its cue from Mark Dever's book What Is a Healthy Church?, which offered one definition of what a healthy church looks like biblically and historically. In this new work, pastor Thabiti Anyabwile attempts to answer the natural next question: "What does a healthy church member look like in the light of Scripture?" God intends for us to play an active and vital part in the body of Christ, the local church. He wants us to experience the local church as a home more profoundly wonderful and meaningful than any other place on earth.

God calls us to be "devoted to one another in love" (Romans 12:10). What does this look like for us today? How can we be the kind of church member who makes a real difference? This timely and engaging book by Tony Merida explores what church is, why being part of it is exciting, and why it’s worthy of our love and commitment. He sets out eight privileges and responsibilities of a church member: to belong, to welcome, to gather, to care, to serve, to honor, to witness and to send.

Who are you when the teeth come out? For every true act of leadership, there is an equal and monstrous act of sabotage. Our leaders have been entirely routed by the agitated and the anxious. These emotional tyrannies manifest themselves in local libraries, HR cubicles, elder meetings, and at your Thanksgiving dinners.

The world has changed. The changes around us present daunting challenges to the church, and we minister in places we have never been in before. But there are no one-size-fits-all solutions because every church needs to attend to its specific situation and calling. We need to listen for not only what to do but also what not to do. In a world screaming in a thousand directions for our focus, it's essential for us to become attentive to God, our congregation, and our community.

Church leadership is a shared responsibility, not a solo venture. This book equips pastors and elders to lead the church together as a team, focusing not so much on what they are to be but on what they as a body are to do.

Sometimes people lose sight of the core of their ministry. They feel overwhelmed by the needs that surround them on a daily basis. Wise and beloved pastor Warren Wiersbe invites ministry leaders to listen in on thirty short "armchair chats" to encourage and strengthen them for service. He shares what he wishes he had known about ministering to others when he began his own Christian pilgrimage.

Imagine an organizational model for church leadership that enables the entire team to unleash their full potential. The joy and vigor coming from a collective strength, intelligence, and skill in the community of leaders not only brings greater potency but better yields for your ministry. What...

It is a high and holy calling to be entrusted with the care of souls, the flock of God. The pastoral task is all-encompassing and can be overwhelming at times. From phone calls in the middle of the night to the pressure of finances to the burden for souls in a spiritually starved community, the load can seem unbearable.

Mission Design by Aaron Abramson is a timely guide for ministry leaders navigating the challenges of a volatile and rapidly changing world. With technological growth, societal shifts, and economic instability reshaping the landscape, traditional five-year plans feel out of touch. Yet, even amidst uncertainty, opportunities for meaningful kingdom impact abound.

Best-selling author and ministry leader Thom S. Rainer drew an exceptional response when he posted a 500-word declaration about church membership to his daily blog. Thoughtfully expanded to book form, I Am a Church Member begins to remedy the outbreak of inactive or barely committed church members, addressing without apology what is expected of those who join a body of believers.

How do you grow as a leader in the church? Should you read church growth books? Take a few seminars? Or just wing it? Scott Thomas, former President of Acts 29, church planter, and pastor has a different approach. He unpacks how leaning on Jesus empowers not just your teaching, but also grows the humility and biblical wisdom you need to lead.

Reformed churches describe themselves as confessional—but what does that mean, and what does it matter? Blair Smith answers both questions in this accessible introduction to confessionalism and its blessings.

Learn the secrets to building and maintaining a healthy, productive, and unified ministry team that sticks together for the long haul. Serving as a church leader can be a tough calling. Whatever your role, odds are you've known your share of the frustration and disillusionment that comes with...

Many Christian families have never experienced the joys and benefits of family worship. But as Donald S. Whitney makes clear, the daily worship of God by families at home is a practice rooted in the Bible and common throughout Christian history. How can people unfamiliar with family worship lead it in their own homes? How do busy households in today's culture recover faithfulness in family worship? This practical book shows you how simple and easy it can be.

Spirit and Sacrament by pastor and author Andrew Wilson is an impassioned call to join together two traditions that are frequently and unnecessarily kept separate. It is an invitation to pursue the best of both worlds in worship, the Eucharistic and the charismatic, with the grace of God at the center. Wilson envisions church services in which healing testimonies, creeds, exuberant praise, and ancient liturgy coexist, and in doing so, deepen our worship and increase our joy.

Overwhelmed. Do you wake up in the morning already feeling behind? Does the pressure of keeping it all together make you feel anxious and irritable? Tanya Dalton, CEO and productivity expert, offers you a liberating shift in perspective: feeling overwhelmed isn't the result of having too much...

Even after Christendom, our culture is fertile ground for gospel renewal. We need apologetics for the whole church tailored to this moment. Since the fall of Christendom, Christians in Western countries can no longer assume their neighbors share basic familiarity with the Bible or even a sense...