Books 4 U

This week a pastor wrote to one of our colleagues. He asked for recommendations of books to discuss with his church board (Consistory, Council, Elder Board). The email said, “Could you please recommend to me the 5 best books for consistories to read and discuss for the purpose of leadership development… ”

Several of us were asked to respond to the request. Here’s a partial list of replies. You may find it helpful for personal reading or discussion with a leadership group of your own.
Frost, Michael. Five Habits of Highly Missional People
George, Carl and Logan, Robert. Leading and Managing Your Church
Hestenes Roberta. Turning Committees into Communities
Hunter III, George. The Apostolic Congregation
Hybels, Bill. Courageous Leadership
Keller, Tim. Center Church
Ranier, Thom. Breakout Churches
Ranier, Tom and Geiger, Eric. Simple Church
Spry, Phil. Guerilla Evangelism
Stanley, Andy. Deep and Wide

Five Habits of Highly Missional People is a free e-book from the folks at Exponential. You can get to their free e-books by clicking here.

This week I also had the privilege of spending time with church leaders in Kalamazoo, Michigan. We talked with a prospective candidate about becoming a Commissioned Pastor, developed a training plan for another, and created a leadership training sequence of courses for Centerpoint Church.

Staff members of Centerpoint Church, who participated in a leadership development curriculum planning meeting, are pictured here. The group included lead pastor Jeff Port (center) and leadership development point person, Jason Olsen (center, right). Church Leadership Center has developed a model that includes a four-course core curriculum. It is already being used by Faith Church (Dyer, IN) and Fair Haven Church (Hudsonville, MI).