This book is aimed at pastors and keep in mind that I am not one, nor have I ever been one. I was intrigued to know what their challenges are because I meet and talk to pastors in the fund raising for missions part of my life.
Dick Hardy takes a down-to-earth no nonsense approach to church management and growth. While he emphasizes time and time again, the need for earnest prayer in the journey the tips he does give are practical.
Twenty-seven Tough Questions Pastors Ask strikes me as a great introductory read in the area of pastoral problems. It is the tip of the proverbial iceberg. It's a small book and could have been expanded to include more detail in specifics. i.e. In discussing a budget: "Always prepare for the worst and when it happens you will not be caught off guard...Be smart and exercise aggressive conservatism in the management of your budget." This IS good advice, but you sort have to know what that means already in order to do it.
If someone has an accompanying natural leadership capability, leadership book, or good street smarts they will get a ton, out of this book. I imagine lots of pastors are leader-ly, but some may need help knowing what that looks like in real life. This book is a step in that direction and leaves room for Hardy to write another book on the subject.
Based on past posts, I should say this book seems to have come through a self-publishing route and it seems to be edited pretty smoothly and have a good look for the cover. It was an interesting peek into the pastoral world. I'm sure it is going to be a good tool to feed into the author's consulting business. www.thehardygroup.org
The pastoral role is one that requires you wear so many hats if you do it right. There are a lot of questions I can think of that pastors would need answered.
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