4/27/2008

The Unity Factor - review


The Unity Factor by Larry Osborne is a book on having and maintaining unity in church leadership.

Osborne sets the stage:
When I arrived at the church, I was armed with books and ideas on growth, evangelism, and reaching the community. Unity was the last thing I was worried about. If you'd told me to slow down and focus on camaraderie and unity, I'd have chided you for your inward, even self-centered, approach to ministry. We had a world to conquer. But it soon became painfully obvious that we were never going to change the world out there when we couldn't get along in here. p. 11

Osborne gives some great advice on church leadership and cultivating unity. One of his better points is on training the church leadership. Purposely training leadership, helps makes their service a time of spiritual growth instead of a valley where they feel distant from God. Growing leaders think about what is best for the people, not lobbying for particular pet items. Osborne also helps the pastor to negotiate change, think about their compensation, get good feedback, and see their own church dynamic appropriately. This book really scratches where quite a few pastors and other leaders itch.

This was a good dose of practical insight that is helpful whether you are in a large or small church. He really injects some sanity into some very frustrating situations - for the pastor, for church leadership, and for the church.

2 comments:

Tim said...

A few weeks ago at our youth pastor mentoring retreat, our speaker talked about the importance of having a Church where anyone (pastors and elders included) were free to be in a valley. I thought it was great insight.

Thanks for blogging.

Unknown said...

I totally agree. One big thought I came away with was supporting your leaders in their growth during their service. Make serving the church (all things being equal) a time of joy and growth, not one of burden and decline.