Customer Reviews

The Business of the Church: The Uncomfortable Truth that Faithful Ministry Requires Effective Management

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As a business executive I have seen a number of systems and initiatives introduced in various settings, some successfully and others not. Over the years I have developed three questions that I ask when any such initiative is proposed:

Is it understandable?
Is it communicable?
Does it work?

John Wimberly's book assembles his years of expereince into a format that he encountered repeatedly during his MBA education. The format is quite familiar as a business book, with its practical organization and illustrative tables. Thus it is understandable.

He uses business principles and terminology, which will be familiar to most board members and easily learned by staff. It is therefore communicable.

His experience of managing a church with several functioning ministries demonstrates that the system works.

This book will not only help any church leadership function from day to day and from year to year, but will also strengthen the trust between the clerical and lay leadership and between the church and the community at large.

I've bought a copy for the board members of my church and another for my sister, who sits on the board of hers.

I think this book should be required reading for all pastors, especially those who are new or fairly new to a parish.

Wimberly makes a clear distinction between leadership and management, noting that most pastors have to do some of both - (1) help a congregation catch the vision of what God is calling them to be and do and (2) attend to the details of making sure things are done effectively.

He uses a systems approach, noting how the church works as a system in the larger cultural system. That appeals to my inclination to try to see the big picture. Three interlocking inputs - Personnel, Facilities, and Finances combine to produce the ministry outputs of Proclamation, Pastoral Care, Program, and Mission.

Under each category he describes many specifics of how a pastor needs to manage, appealing to people who are insistent that details be handled competently but who sometimes have trouble seeing the big picture. I especially like his stressing the importance of having clear personnel policies and procedures. I have seen any number of pastors who come into conflict because of unclear expectations, resulting in the pastor being forced out of the church or members leaving in anger. As one who has seen some atrocious church websites, I strongly endorse his assertion that churches normally need to hire someone to do this.

While I quibble with a few side opinions that Wimberly voices (e.g. over the proper tenure for interim pastors), I think this is a most valuable book. I have already and will be recommending it to my coaching and consulting clients.

Rev. Robert A. Harris, Harris Coaching and Consulting -bobharriscoaching.com

I read the book (devoured, actually) on my way to work and was so engrossed, I nearly missed my train stop.

My husband and other staffers were recently "transitioned" off the church roll after a new pastor hire. The process was wrenching since we had been members for 19 years and my husband a staffer for 7. This book would have helped the new pastor with systems and processes for the new hires and the current staff. My (secular) HR department handles these transitions very well, and this book will help pastors do the same.

Have not yet read Rev Wimberly's new book but have listened to hundreds of his Sunday sermons over the past many years. They are one of the main reasons I joined in the 1980s the church he pastors at. You'll not find church-related texts more clear, logical, down-to-earth, or applicable to daily life than Rev Wimberly's. I'll try to say something about this book when it arrives in my mailbox; meanwhile, take my word for it that you'll find any book he's published (besides his articles in pastoral journals) worth your while, well written, and thoughtful, not to mention thought provoking.