How can I serve God if he hasn't called me to be a pastor or a missionary? Isn't ministry just for ministers? How can I minister through my "secular" job? If you've asked any of these questions or feel frurstrated in your church roles, this book is for you. It explores six common myths of ministry and helps you identify God's unique call on your life. Ministry is not restricted to meeting spiritual needs; it is meeting any kind of need with Christian love.
Author: Eddy Hall
Located in: Goessel, KS
Submitted: April 29, 2004
Tell us a little about yourself. I lead a consulting team called Living Stones
Associates (www.living-stones.com) which works
with churches to enhance church health and
ministry effectiveness. We do this by studying
four dimensions of church life: ministries,
staffing, facilities, and finances. In each area
we identify barriers to healthy growth then work
with the church to develop a prioritized plan for
removing those barriers.
What was your motivation behind this project? One of the greatest barriers to church health is
what we call slot-filling. When the church has
an empty slot (a position that needs to be
filled), we tend to set out to recruit someone to
fill that slot. Sometimes this works well, but
often it doesn't. People end up saying yes out
of guilt or obligation, not because God has given
them a passion for that ministry.
What do you hope folks will gain from this project? This book is designed as a tool to be used in the
congregation, with small groups of people, to
provide a process for people to discover what
ministry God has called them to do--even if it
doesn't match an existing slot. When churches
say to every member, "How can we help you fulfill
God's call?" rather than recruiting people to
fill slots, an incredible power and joy in
ministry is released. The implications of this
are radical. It eventually involves redefining
the role of staff and governing board and
changing many of the church structures to
facilitate this new culture of empowerment. But
there may not be anything a church can do that
has greater potential to revitalize a
congregation and release its spiritual potential.
Who are your influences, sources of inspiration or favorite authors / artists? In the last two years, Larry Crabb has been my
most significant spiritual mentor--entirely
through his books. Brian McClaren has stretched
me in good ways. I love Reggie McNeal's A WORK
OF HEART.
I also am an avid reader of cutting edge business
books, and I find that they often have more to
say about church leadership (and are often more
biblical) than many of the leadership books from
the church press. I like everything by Patrick
Lencioni. BUILT TO LAST and GOOD TO GREAT by Jim
Collins are very important.
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