Bob Burns (3) (1950–)

A technical, but fruitful, exploration of power dynamics and interests in church ministry.

The authors explore four examples of ministry experiences and analyze the "politics" involved. They explain the use of the term "politics" and its existence in church ministry - the negotiation of various interests as they all attempt to leverage the influence and power they have to accomplish what they deem to be their purposes/the best way forward. The authors address the different kinds of interest which might exist, different forms of power and influence, how negotiation takes place, what kinds of moves various persons will make, and reach the point of establishing a four-square dynamic of levels of power and interaction, from working together without reference to power dynamics to unequal power being leveraged to impose a will from "on high."

The work is a helpful explication of power dynamics in ministry; to this end, anyone entering ministry would do well to read the book, since power dynamics will be far more involved in what you're doing than you would have imagined. Those with a few years in ministry will tend to find their experiences characterized and explained in this work.

Valuable for its purposes.

**--galley received as part of early review program… (más)

I would recommend this book to every pastor and professional church worker. It should be a classic. As it points out, ministry-killers are usually not what goes into sermons, but are matters of life skills, behavior patterns and character. I think every professional church worker would benefit no matter how long they have been doing it. A few gems from this treasure chest:
Spiritual Formation – spiritual maturity “is an ongoing process. No one ever “arrives” spiritually. We are all on a journey of spiritual growth. Practice of spiritual disciplines – reflection, prayer, sabbath, repentance, and worship. “Nothing is more important in the life of a pastor than the discipline of worship.” However, for pastors “the corporate worship experience in their own congregations was more a time of work than worship.”
Self Care – physical, mental and emotional health. Self-care is “the wisdom to ensure, as far as humanly possible, a wise and orderly work that conserves and lengthens a pastor’s ministry.” Ongoing development of the whole person – emotional, spiritual, relational, physical and intellectual areas of life.
Emotional and cultural intelligence – emotional intelligence for the self – proactively manage one’s own emotions; others – appropriately respond to the emotions of others. “Just because a person has grown up physically and intellectually, or … appears spiritually mature, doesn’t necessarily mean they have grown up emotionally.” Reflection. Active listening.
Marriage and Family –
Leadership and Management –
“An understanding of these themes, and an intentional evaluation of life and ministry through them, will greatly affect the health and resilience of pastors and other types of ministry leaders.”
… (más)

Perhaps I was expecting too much when I began reading this. Very early on, it felt like I was sitting in on a group of pastors complaining about the ministry. Being a minister myself, I've been there and done that. I did not find the five areas of resilience as comprehensive as the pastors involved in the study must have, nor did I find the suggestions all that helpful. It felt like I was simply being loaded up with a ton more demands on myself and my time than I already had. I will be taking part in an online discussion with other pastors based on this book and I don't know whether to be hopeful, fearful, or disinterested. Oh well, another demand on my time. But we shall see.… (más)

A very helpful book on areas that pastors need to be concerned about if they want to have a fruitful ministry of years, not months. I had heard Bob Burns speak several times on aspects of this research, so some of the information and quotes were not new. I think the money chapters of this book are the ones dealing with emotional and cultural intelligence and the ones dealing with leadership and management, all areas that most pastors, such as myself, received little to no training on in seminary. Those chapters are worth the price of the book.… (más)