Leadership on the Other Side [Paperback]

Bill Easum (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 2000

Most Christians would agree that the purpose of the church is to lead people into active, committed discipleship to Jesus Christ. Yet if this is the case, shouldn t the goal of making disciples drive everything the church does? For example, shouldn t the primary job of staff members be to recruit and mentor the laity in fulfilling their own call to ministry, rather than the staff members performing the tasks of ministry themselves? Shouldn t the task of reaching out to those who have yet to answer Christ 's call to discipleship be more important than maintaining programs for those who already have? Thus, Easum opens the portal to the OtherSide, that place beyond the Christendom Era and its mechanistic, by-the-numbers approach to church life. Be prepared for a bumpy ride, with treasured assumptions, privileges, and traditions shattered along the way.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Bill Easum is President of 21st-Century Strategies, a church consulting and nurturing firm. One of the most widely sought advisers on congregational health and vitality in North America, he has over 30 years of congregational experience, with approximately 25 years' experience as a pastor. One of the most respected voices on emerging forms of ministry and congregational life, he is the author of several books, including Unfreezing Moves, Put On Your Own Oxygen Mask First, Go Big!, (with Bil Cornelius), and Ministry in Hard Times (with Bill Tenny-Brtiian), all published by Abingdon Press.

Product Details

• Paperback: 144 pages
• Publisher: Abingdon Press (August 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0687085888
• ISBN-13: 978-0687085880
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,478,196 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Bill Easum has a thirty year track record of growing congregations in two denominations. His last church, which he pastored for twenty-four years, grew to the largest United Methodist Church in South Texas. The past twenty years, Bill has served as a consultant to congregations and denominations. In 1986 he founded 21st Century Strategies. Bill has personally worked in over 700 congregations, some of which are the largest in the nation, and has taught hundreds of thousands of leaders (client list http://easumbandy.com/services/consultations/our_list_of_clients/). Bill is the author of more than a dozen best selling books.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Leadership Clues to the Wormhole for Church Leaders, January 26, 2001

By 

George Bullard "Strategic Leadership Coach" (Columbia, SC, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Leadership on the Other Side (Paperback)

Bill Easum has made several important contributions in this book that makes it well worth reading. First, he forces us to think in fuzzy terms about the future of leadership by suggesting that ahead of us are clues rather than rules.

Second, he injects a strong element of postmodern thinking into the conversation that forces us to think in nonlinear terms. Third, he is clearly spiritual and Jesus-focused in his clues.

Fourth, he has a handle on leadership from an individual perspective, a congregational perspective, and the denominational or larger Church perspective. Fifth, he challenges church leaders about their primary client. Do they serve the congregation, or do they serve Jesus?

Sixth, he challenges the church at various levels to anticipate the kind of leadership that will be needed in the 21st century. Seventh, he has a clear focus on helping the church at various levels address the spiritual needs of 21st century preChristians.

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hold On Tight, July 21, 2001

By 

Ken Klemme (Harrodsburg, KY United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Leadership on the Other Side (Paperback)

Easum's book is about the dramatic and inevitable change of our era and the characteristics of effective leadership in this changing environment and in the era after this period of intensive change. The following is a brief description of the major thrusts of this book.
The demise of the Modern Age and Christendom is declared. Mr. Easum intersperses throughout the entire book, evidence of cataclysmic and permanent social change that is currently taking place. He demonstrates how the emerging generation learns and receives information differently than generations before it. He shares statistics that demonstrate major demographic shifts in the make up of families, in church affiliations, in education, etc. A new emphasis on spirituality and the value of emotion in the emerging generation is discussed.
The change is compared by metaphor to the "wormhole." This is a name given by scientific theorists for the gateway between entire universes. Mr. Easum contends that the change being wrought in our time is paramount to travel through a wormhole into an entirely new universe and time. Rather than giving this new time / place a name, such as "Postmodern" which describes what it is not; he compares it to the "Pre-Christian" time of the establishment of the New Testament Churches. This sets up the next focus of this book, life and leadership in the wormhole.
The majority of the book describes "clues" about leadership characteristics and tactics in the wormhole and in the resulting new era that Mr. Easum calls the OtherSide. The changes are so complete and being made at such a fast rate that concrete principles or rigidly defined characteristics of leadership become obsolete almost as fast as they are identified. Therefore, rather than provide such concrete definitions of leadership, he provides clues that help us picture what effective leaders and leadership activities and motives will look like during this change of eras.
One of the leadership clues discussed involves the creation of a "permission giving" culture. Easum uses another metaphor, DNA, to illustrate a church's having identified and communicated its mission and values throughout the congregation. All persons are encouraged to develop leadership skills and to participate in ministries that help the church "replicate" its DNA (move toward and accomplish its mission).
The end of each chapter (called Portals) contains a series of thought provoking, evaluation provoking exercises. They are entitled, "Journal Entries and Other Painfully Wonderful Experiences to Help You Feel and Think. These exercise, along with several suggested Internet sources, including one produced by the author, make the journey of reading this book interactive.

4.0 out of 5 stars More helpful than you might think ..., January 28, 2012

By 

Roberta Karchner (United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Leadership on the Other Side (Paperback)

I was required to read this book in Seminary as part of a leadership class. It was my last semester and I knew that I was headed for a small church. So how could someone like Bill Easum speak to me?

What I found in this book was the concept of servant leadership. Our job is to be a disciple of Jesus who not only makes disciples of others, but teaches those disciples that they are to make disciples.

Unlike the stereotypical leadership concept where a pastor is hired to do the spiritual work of the church (totally un-Biblical), Easum reminds us that our role is to focus not on that, but on discipleship. In conjunction with Leading the Team-Based Church: How Pastors and Church Staffs Can Grow Together into a Powerful Fellowship of Leaders A Leadership Network Publication (Jossey-Bass Leadership Network Series), you get a glimpse into the idea that the pastor is NOT the all-in-all of a church. We are merely the ones who are responsible for growing the leaders of the church.

My churches are small, and not all of the ideas of Bill Easum are practical, but most are thought provokers. I recommend this for those who are leading churches in the 21st century.