Resources: Congregational Health, Culture & Leadership

Want to read more about adaptive leadership, transforming congregational culture, and other topics discussed in 74:1 Quarterly articles? We asked regional directors of congregational vitality what books & websites have proven valuable in their work. The following lists are gathered from their recommendations. [Editor’s note: additional recommendations, drawn from certificate in congregational vitality bibliographies, added March 31, 2016.]

Recommended websites

• Lewis Center for Church Leadership
• Emotionally Healthy Spirituality (Peter Scazzero’s organization)
• The Exchange (blog by Ed Stetzer, Christianity Today)
• The Leadership Stool (Dave Olson)
• Blogs and podcasts from Thom S. Rainer and Mike Bonem

Recommended books

• Samuel Chand, Cracking Your Church’s Culture: Seven Keys to Unleashing Vision and Inspiration (Jossey-Bass, 2010)
• Edwin Friedman, A Failure of Nerve: Leadership in the Age of the Quick Fix (Seabury Books, 2007)
• David Hansen, The Power of Loving Your Church: Leading through Acceptance and Grace (Bethany House Publishers, 1998)
• Ronald Heifetz, Alexander Grashow & Martin Linsky, The Practice of Adaptive Leadership: Tools and Tactics for Changing Your Organization and the World (Harvard Business Press, 2009)
• Ronald Heifitz & Martin Linsky, Leadership on the Line: Staying Alive through the Dangers of Leading (Harvard Business Review Press, 2002)
• Patrick Lencioni, The Advantage: Why Organizational Health Trumps Everything Else in Business (Jossey-Bass, 2012)
• Larry Osborn, Sticky Teams: Keeping Your Leadership Team and Staff on the Same Page (Zondervan, 2010); Sticky Church (Zondervan, 2008)
• Eugene Peterson, The Pastor: A Memoir (HarperOne, reprint, 2012)
• Gilbert Rendle, Behavioral Covenants for Congregations: A Handbook for Honoring Differences (Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 1998)
• Peter Senge, The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of the Learning Organization (Doubleday, rev. edn., 2006)

[additional resources from congregational vitality certificate bibliography; added March 31, 2016]

• Mark Branson & Juan F. Martínez, Churches, Cultures and Leadership: A Practical Theology of Congregations and Ethnicity (IVP Academic, 2011)
• Tara Barthel and David Edling, Redeeming Church Conflicts: Turning Crisis into Compassion and Care (Baker, 2012)
• Peter Cha, Steve Kang, and Helen Lee, eds., Growing Healthy Asian-American Churches: Ministry Insights from Groundbreaking Congregations (InterVarsity Press, 2006)
• Duane Elmer, Cross Cultural Conflict: Building Relationships for Effective Ministry (IVP Academic, 1993)
• D. Darrell Griffen, Navigating Pastoral Leadership in the Transition Zone (MMGI Books, 2012)
• Aubrey Malphurs, Advanced Strategic Planning: A 21st Century Model for Church and Ministry Leaders, 3rd edn (Baker Books, 2013); Look Before You Lead: How to Discern and Shape Your Church Culture (Baker Books, 2013)
• Manuel Ortiz, One New People: Models for Developing a Multiethnic Church (InterVarsity Press, 1996)
• Soong-Chan Rah, Many Colors: Cultural Intelligence for a Changing Church (Moody Publishers, 2010)
• James E. Plueddemann, Leading Across Cultures: Effective Mission & Ministry in the Global Church (IVP Academic, 2009)
• Efrem Smith, Post-Black and Post-White Church: Becoming the Beloved Community in a Multi-Ethnic World (Jossey-Bass, 2012)
• Margaret J. Wheatley, Turning to One Another: Simple Conversations to Restore Hope to the Future (Berrett-Koehler Publishers, 2002)

What resources have shaped your pastoral leadership? Share these in the comments section.