Leading the congregation : caring for yourself while serving others

Leading theCongregation is a complete and definitive guide to the practice of churchleadership. The book describes essential paradigms for the leader thatintegrate spiritual integrity and service within a "systems" view of thecongregation and its ministry. This revised and updated version focuses on the challenges ofcongregational leadership in a culture that has fewer ties to Christian faith. Theauthors lay out the dual contexts in which church leaders must function within thecongregation, and as the congregation 's representative to the community and theyexplain the very different skill sets required to flourish in each. Underlying therevised edition is an insistence on the congregational leader 's call from God, andcultivation of her or his relationship with God. Leadership is not the same thing ascharisma, they explain; it is rather a set of attitudes and practices that each ofus can and must master if we are to be worthy servants ofChrist.