5 Ministry Killers and How to Defeat Them

Title: FIVE MINISTRY KILLERS AND HOW TO DEFEAT THEM
Author: Charles Stone
Publisher: Bethany House
May 2010
ISBN: 978-0764207051
Genre: Inspirational/ministry

There are five killers of a ministry, according to Dr. Charles Stone of Ginger Creek Community Church in Chicago. This pastor noticed that a great number of ministers wondered what killed their joy. What robbed them of their passion?

So, Dr. Stone began researching over 1,900 pastors and 1,000 non-pastors in partnership with The Barna Group, LifeWay Research, and NationalChristianPoll.com from Christianity Today, Inc. What Dr. Stone discovered was that the death of ministerial joy comes from one of five categories:

1. Head-in-the-Sand mentality that denies existing problems.
2. Emotional investment in the wrong issues.
3. Unhealthy responses to ministry frustrations.
4. A lone ranger attitude that says, “God and I can handle this.”
5. Attitudes and actions that lead to lonely, hurting spouses.

In FIVE MINISTRY KILLERS AND HOW TO DEFEAT THEM, Dr. Stone promises help for frustrated pastors. He uses his thirty-plus years of ministerial work to craft a four-part organic process that will help pastors sustain and renew their passion for ministry.

There are a lot of graphs and research data included in this hardcover book to help sustain the claims that Dr. Stone makes. This is not a book for laymen, rather it is written pastor-to-pastor, and appears to be used as a kind of teaching tool. It is more of a lecture in tone, not a friend-across-the-kitchen-table style. Although there are some really cute chapter titles in this book.

If you are a pastor and not feeling the joy that you once had or if you are in the ministry of a pastor who might benefit from this book, then FIVE MINISTRY KILLERS AND HOW TO DEFEAT THEM is a book you need to pick up. It can’t hurt—and might just help. $19.99 hardcover, 221 pages.