Summary
In their book "Liberating Ministry from the Success Syndrome" authors Kent and Barbara Hughes offer insight to anyone currently involves with or contemplating involvement with church ministry. In the introduction, the husband and wife team tell a story of a pastor that gave into failure and left full-time ministry (Hughes 1987, 9-13). This confusion of success and failure in regards to ministry effects many every day. The team explains that they too almost fell victim to overwhelming feelings of failure in their ministry and their subsequent conquering of these feelings through the truth in God 's word.
After defining the problem of how the secular world defines success in the first part of the book, the remainder of the book is broken down into three main sections: success, encouragement, and helps. The first section discusses success, more specifically what success is, from God 's point of view. In this part, the authors list the definitions of success in ministry. Concepts such as faithfulness, serving, prayer, holiness, and attitude receive individual chapters designed to explore the topic from a biblical standpoint.
The next section contains what the authors deem as the best encouragements for ministry. Again, the authors show their readers the scriptural justification for these encouragements. From faith and trust in God to the pastor 's call, to the ordinary qualities that the pastor has, fellow workers in ministry, and finally the heavenly reward the pastor has an arsenal to pull encouragement from helping him keep his focus. Finally, the authors list helps that are available to the pastor. First, they discuss the pastor 's spouse and how by listening to their pastor-spouse and participating in some of the success tactics, the pastor 's spouse can help to encourage their spouse when the pastor feels drained. Finally, they discuss how the congregation can assist the pastor with his juggling act to ensure the ministry is a biblical success. Strength Analysis The authors of the book experienced the pains of not meeting what the secular world believed success was for their ministry. Therefore, one of the strengths of the book is the authors lived through their feelings of disillusionment. The author duo reflects on a time when Ken stopped trusting God. They demonstrate their understanding of the situation that the pastor who is reading the book could be finding himself or herself in. Finding the answer to the problems they were facing through God 's word gave the authors the solutions they required. It is from this experience which enabled the creation of this book to help other pastors who may be experiencing the same disillusionment. Another strength of the book is the spiritual references used throughout the volume. One excellent example of this usage of scripture came when the authors were discussing the encouragement for the ordinary. Hughes used the example of Andrew, the first apostle to emphasize the ordinary. Hughes states that "Andrew wrote no epistles, no miracles are recorded of him, and he was not an eloquent preacher like his brother. Ordinary Andrew was rarely, if at all, in the foreground, and definitely not regarded as a leader!" (Hughes 1987, 133-143). Nevertheless, Andrew is credited with being the patron saint of at least three separate cultures (Hughes 1987, 133-143). A third strength of the book would be the straightforward presentation of the material. The authors present their struggles and follow it with their keys to a successful ministry. They proceed with encouragements for the pastor and with help that is available to the pastor which he or she may not realize. The straightforward presentation …show more content…
Hughes writes "Prayer is fundamental to success in the ministry" (Hughes 1987, 71-83). Every aspect of life needs prayer. This quote serves as a reminder to that fact. It is through prayer that we can discover the will of God in our lives. We need to spend time daily with the Lord. Without constant communication with God, we cannot hope to get closer to Him. Ministry is about helping others get closer to God. We either introduce someone to God or help them along the road to knowing Him. The only logical way for us to accomplish that task which God called us to do, is for us to get closer to him through
In their book "Liberating Ministry from the Success Syndrome" authors Kent and Barbara Hughes offer insight to anyone currently involves with or contemplating involvement with church ministry. In the introduction, the husband and wife team tell a story of a pastor that gave into failure and left full-time ministry (Hughes 1987, 9-13). This confusion of success and failure in regards to ministry effects many every day. The team explains that they too almost fell victim to overwhelming feelings of failure in their ministry and their subsequent conquering of these feelings through the truth in God 's word.
After defining the problem of how the secular world defines success in the first part of the book, the remainder of the book is broken down into three main sections: success, encouragement, and helps. The first section discusses success, more specifically what success is, from God 's point of view. In this part, the authors list the definitions of success in ministry. Concepts such as faithfulness, serving, prayer, holiness, and attitude receive individual chapters designed to explore the topic from a biblical standpoint.
The next section contains what the authors deem as the best encouragements for ministry. Again, the authors show their readers the scriptural justification for these encouragements. From faith and trust in God to the pastor 's call, to the ordinary qualities that the pastor has, fellow workers in ministry, and finally the heavenly reward the pastor has an arsenal to pull encouragement from helping him keep his focus. Finally, the authors list helps that are available to the pastor. First, they discuss the pastor 's spouse and how by listening to their pastor-spouse and participating in some of the success tactics, the pastor 's spouse can help to encourage their spouse when the pastor feels drained. Finally, they discuss how the congregation can assist the pastor with his juggling act to ensure the ministry is a biblical success. Strength Analysis The authors of the book experienced the pains of not meeting what the secular world believed success was for their ministry. Therefore, one of the strengths of the book is the authors lived through their feelings of disillusionment. The author duo reflects on a time when Ken stopped trusting God. They demonstrate their understanding of the situation that the pastor who is reading the book could be finding himself or herself in. Finding the answer to the problems they were facing through God 's word gave the authors the solutions they required. It is from this experience which enabled the creation of this book to help other pastors who may be experiencing the same disillusionment. Another strength of the book is the spiritual references used throughout the volume. One excellent example of this usage of scripture came when the authors were discussing the encouragement for the ordinary. Hughes used the example of Andrew, the first apostle to emphasize the ordinary. Hughes states that "Andrew wrote no epistles, no miracles are recorded of him, and he was not an eloquent preacher like his brother. Ordinary Andrew was rarely, if at all, in the foreground, and definitely not regarded as a leader!" (Hughes 1987, 133-143). Nevertheless, Andrew is credited with being the patron saint of at least three separate cultures (Hughes 1987, 133-143). A third strength of the book would be the straightforward presentation of the material. The authors present their struggles and follow it with their keys to a successful ministry. They proceed with encouragements for the pastor and with help that is available to the pastor which he or she may not realize. The straightforward presentation …show more content…
Hughes writes "Prayer is fundamental to success in the ministry" (Hughes 1987, 71-83). Every aspect of life needs prayer. This quote serves as a reminder to that fact. It is through prayer that we can discover the will of God in our lives. We need to spend time daily with the Lord. Without constant communication with God, we cannot hope to get closer to Him. Ministry is about helping others get closer to God. We either introduce someone to God or help them along the road to knowing Him. The only logical way for us to accomplish that task which God called us to do, is for us to get closer to him through