Overcoming Pastoral Pitfalls

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.

(Revised and expanded) Practical advice on how to handle issues such as church splits, burnout, and pastoral priorities.

Many books focus on how to grow a church and "succeed" as a pastor, but few help clergy cope with the daily pressures they face in juggling the demands of ministry, family, and personal ambitions. David Horner overturns the notion that pastors must accept disobedience in some aspects of life to thrive in others. Examining his thirty years of pastoral ministry, Horner mines seven key challenges that pastors must face well in order to restore and maintain a healthy balance. Church leaders and those who love them will find this book a practical and biblical guide that reinvigorates their calling.

With 30 years of experience behind him, David Horner knows the pitfalls of a life in ministry. In 7 Challenges Pastors Face, Horner shows you how to - balance the demands of your calling - sharpen your vision - grow a team - cultivate humility Developing a well-balanced approach to responsibilities and passions will equip you to thrive in the face of the many challenges of ministry. This book can show you the way.

Improving your powers of communication can encourage powerful communication with your parishioners. A Pastor’s Guide to Interpersonal Communication: The Other Six Days provides students preparing for the pastoral ministry with specialized training in communications that focuses on the kind of one-on-one conversations they can expect to have with their parishioners. This comprehensive book examines a variety of essential topics, including perception, self-disclosure, verbal and nonverbal messages, listening, stages of relational development, power assertiveness and dominance, conflict management, forgiveness, persuasion, dual relationships, pastoral family communication, and how to develop a communications model. Each chapter includes “Pastoral Conversations,” real-life dialogues presented for analysis; “Key Concepts” for quick student review; “Meanings Mania,” self-tests on vocabulary; and “Unleashing the Power of Interpersonal Communication,” student exercises that reinforce the practical aspects of key principles. While many pastors have a great love for the people they minister to, they have difficulty demonstrating that love because they lack the skills to develop and maintain relationships. This book explores how communication works and how to make it work for you, applying the best available interpersonal communications techniques to your relationships with the real people of the church—your parishioners. A Pastor’s Guide to Interpersonal Communication: The Other Six Days examines: how self-disclosure works and when it’s appropriate for a pastor stumbling blocks and building blocks for effective listening the differences between power, assertiveness, and dominance and when to use each conflict management styles and negotiation strategies several myths about forgiveness dual relationships and how to avoid them pitfalls to avoid in pastoral family communication and much more A Pastor’s Guide to Interpersonal Communication: The Other Six Days is an essential resource for Bible college students and for students at the pre-ministerial and seminary levels. It’s also a valuable professional tool for clergy practitioners who need help with their communication skills.

The journey to uncover the inner anxiety issues relating to the development of an unhealthy personal identity was resolved through this research project. The pastoral care ministry began to flow more effectively when the anxiety from my personal identity was resolved. My journey of discovery can be seen throughout the following six chapters. This research project is aimed to provide clergy and laypersons a tool of training to use in reducing anxiety in practicing pastoral care. This research is a result of over thirty years of interpathic training, having discussions with experts in pastoral care, including detailed feedback and discussions with clergy, laypersons, and professionals.