“PASTORAL HELMANSHIP: A PASTOR’S GUIDE TO CHURCH ADMINISTRATION”
Many thanks to Aaron Heilman for this review. Aaron is Worship Leader for Pointe of Hope Church in Blue Springs, Missouri (LCMS). A link to Aaron’s video can be found here. A link to our You Tube channel, which contains nearly four dozen videos, can be found here.
Pastoral Helmsmanship is a collaborative effort between three well credentialed authors.
In summary, a large part of administrative work is preparing and planning for storms. A ship’s helmsman is second-in command to the captain. In a church, the pastor is the helmsman. The captain is Jesus. The helmsman’s primary role is to help navigate the ship through transitions.
There are several critical areas of a pastor’s call and life. First is the call to be the main vision caster of the church. Second is good time management. Third is balancing family and ministry. Fourth is a sober look at the occupational hazards of being a pastor. Lastly is a chapter on how to identify and handle troublemakers in the congregation.
The next section identifies key areas the pastor must tend to as an administrator. This book includes risk management and mitigation as well as approaches to working with and leading people. The final section provides resources and book recommendations.
Based on Kenneth Haugk’s book, Antagonists in the Church, there are 21 different behaviors that are red flags to look for in church members, leaders, and oneself. The authors added two additional categories, unregenerate members and those who declined their call to ministry.
The only real criticism to offer is that the book is probably due for an update due to technological changes. Overall, this book is a great one-stop shop for ideas on church administration that can help a pastor see the scope and complexity of the call to administrate and then develop a plan to do that well.
