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Seven Practices of Effective Ministry Hardcover – August 18, 2004

4.8 4.8 out of 5 stars 451 ratings

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There’s no scoreboard in the sanctuary, and the only plate is probably for the offering. But every church leader needs to know how to win, and every congregation needs to know when to cheer. This insightful book speaks to every church leader who yearns for a simpler, more effective approach to ministry. An engaging parable about one overwhelmed pastor is followed by an overview of seven successful team practices, each one developed and applied in a ministry setting. Reinforced by relevant discussion questions, these clear, easy, and strategic practices can turn any ministry into a winning team.

Your ministry is perfectly designed to produce the results you are currently experiencing. If you are satisfied with those results, you don’t need this book. If not, it’s time for a change.

Like your own personal trainer,
7 Practices of Effective Ministry is an insightful guide for any leader who yearns for a simpler, more effective approach to ministry. Here are seven strategic principles that when put into play will bring focus and clarity to everything you do and turn your ministry into a winning team.


Story Behind the Book

Looking for ways to help pastors faced with hectic lives and depleted resources, Andy Stanley, Reggie Joiner, and Lane Jones decided to write a parable about the complicated life of a local pastor. Rather than come straight at those in ministry with formulas and lists, they engage readers in an effort to have them identify with the character.



“For many years, I practiced and taught church growth. What I have witnessed as a member at North Point takes church growth to a whole new level. Andy and his team communicate principles that will add value to you and the church you love.”
-John C. Maxwell, founder, The INJOY Group


“Every professional athlete recognizes the value of solid coaching. The best are always working to get better. From what I’ve seen at North Point, these seven practices can improve the game of any church in America.”
-John Smoltz, Cy Young Award-winning pitcher


“The practices covered in this book are down-to-earth, practical, and come from real difference-makers who know what church leadership is all about. Andy, Reggie, and Lane have definitely hit the ball out of the park with the 7 Practices of Effective Ministry.”
-Ed Young, Jr., senior pastor, Fellowship Church
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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Communicator, author, and pastor, Andy Stanley founded Atlanta-based North Point Ministries in 1995. Today, NPM is comprised of six churches in the Atlanta area and a network of ninety churches around the globe collectively serving nearly 185,000 people weekly. As host of Your Move with Andy Stanley, with over seven million messages consumed each month through television and podcasts, and author of more than twenty books, including The New Rules for Love, Sex & DatingAsk It, How to Be Rich, Deep & Wide, Visioneering, and Next Generation Leader, he is considered one of the most influential pastors in America. Andy and his wife, Sandra, have three grown children and live near Atlanta.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Multnomah; First Edition (August 18, 2004)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 192 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1590523733
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1590523735
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 10.8 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.8 x 0.72 x 8.56 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.8 4.8 out of 5 stars 451 ratings

About the authors

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Customer reviews

4.8 out of 5 stars
4.8 out of 5
451 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Reviewed in the United States on March 9, 2022
I am a boringly ordinary person. Not oarticularly gifted. I do not have a college education. I am a grandma to five grown grandchildren and another that aspires to be.

I am mom to three children who now qualify for the AARP magazine. Oh dear, how did that happen?!

I found myself serving on several boards and holding leadership positions over the years at work, at church and in our small communities. And there is the most important leadership of all concealed in the term 'parenting',

I have bumbled along, all these years, not knowing how to lead but trying hard to figure it out.

I am now now tasked with starting a new church ministry, one different than I have seen before that could serve as a model.

I guess it's never too late. At 76 years old I have found help.

If only I had access to this knowledge decades ago!

The baseball analogies were clear and understandable, even for an old girl like me. I go so far as to say they were actually fun and, ultimately, inspiring.

My recommendation to others is to read this book. It helped me so much.

Thank you authors! I needed this.
Reviewed in the United States on September 25, 2014
This was a great book and helpful to me. For those who only gave it one star, here is your theology:

When Jesus fed the five thousand he had the disciples sit the people down in groups of 50. Nothing magical about the number but when you are dealing with large groups of people, there are organizational principles that you have to employ or chaos will be the result.

This book is written to ministry leaders and pastors with the expectation that they should understand the underlying principles from a Biblical perspective. God had a plan before the world was created to achieve His goals. He invited us to be part of His ministry so that we could be the hands and feet of Jesus. Jesus had a simple methodology to making disciples: invite to follow, follow to believe, believe to obey, obey to repeat. During Jesus ministry, he declared his goals several times in different ways. Towards the end of his ministry, he restated the vision for the church in multiple ways.

Jesus also taught the value of pruning, that sometimes you have to remove good grapes to produce excellent ones. The same goes for ministry, Jesus focused on his mission to the Jews rather than the Gentiles even though He wanted to save the Gentiles too. In three short years, he had to focus on a narrow group of people in a narrow geographic area.

We only have a short lifespan so our discipleship must be done with the intent to replace ourselves for the next generation. Jesus instituted the Lord's Supper not only to make us remember his death but to celebrate His resurrection. The feasts in the Old Testament were similar in remembering the victory that God has won.

There is just as great a danger in spiritualizing what needs to be done practically as there is in practically doing what needs to be done spiritually. Our job is to create the environment where we can maximize a person's encounter with Jesus. Only the Spirit can affect the heart.
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Reviewed in the United States on January 5, 2015
This book is written in a way that is easy to read and is very instructive. The practices of North Point are shared in a practical way.
This is not a book about particular programs or teaching. It focuses on seven practices which if followed will assist any congregation in determining what their "win" is and how to determine what they will do and, importantly, what they should not do. It also gives guidance as to how to go about implementing what is to be done.
This book is written in a way which makes it easy to read as an individual. It is also a valuable book for a leadership group to tackle together.
I highly recommend this book
Reviewed in the United States on November 13, 2018
I enjoyed reading this. It's easy to read and the fictional narrative makes it fun to read. Lots of great practical advice that is proven to be effective. I believe I know some pastors, ministry professionals, and other leaders who could really use this book. The only drawback is that I would have liked to have seen more real-life examples of the principles. There are some, but I would have liked to have seen practical examples and case studies to be a major part of the structure of the book. Maybe they should do a follow-up book about the case studies of churches and other ministries who began implementing these principles. There are tons of them out there for sure as this book has been extremely popular and many people swear by the principles. The other thing I really liked is how the advice works for most every situation. I now know that with my family, my small group, or any kind of team I lead, I need to clarify the wins and we all need to celebrate the wins!
One person found this helpful
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Reviewed in the United States on June 25, 2023
Seven Practices of Effective Ministry is a great book for any organization to read as a staff project and get together to discuss the practices of each chapter. Self evaluation is a benefit for a small one or two person ministry as well as for a ministry with hundreds of staff.
Reviewed in the United States on January 19, 2016
This book completely changed my mindset. Honestly, I wasn't looking forward to reading it. I have read similar books and felt like I was being punished, but I flew through this book in weekend. I am now better able (and more willing) to delegate tasks. I am also better at relating tasks to the actual mission of my ministry and able to make them more meaningful (both to myself or those I delegated them to). I read this book in preparation a retreat and I feel it helped me to center my goals and make the retreat more meaningful to those that attended. It helped me remember that ministry is not just about the people that you are trying to help. The people that are working with you want to feel closer to God as well. They need to feel like a valued part of the ministry, and they need to have ownership in it too. There may be some things you are doing that aren't at all related to your goals that you need to stop. There may be needs in front of you that aren't being met. This book helped me to focus my ideas and my ministry. I highly recommend this book for anyone involved in any level of ministry. It can also make it easier for you to understand the intentions people in charge.
2 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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Sean UnKauf
5.0 out of 5 stars Great book
Reviewed in Canada on January 22, 2019
Using this book to build my leadership team!
Benjamin Schön
5.0 out of 5 stars Eines der Bücher, das mich am meisten beeinflusst hat.
Reviewed in Germany on May 28, 2016
Ich hatte das Buch vor einigen Jahren gekauft und immer Mal wieder gelesen. Jetzt investiere ich mich in neue junge Leiter und hab jedem dieses Buch gekauft, weil ich denke, dass es Sie weiterbringen wird. Andy Stanley hat die wundervolle Gabe. Dinge auf den Punkt zu bringen und glasklar zu beschreiben. Außerdem ist alle Lektionen noch in eine schöne Geschichte mit eingebunden. Auch da hat er erkannt, das Storytelling wichtig ist.
Das Buch ist zwar auf englisch aber ganz einfach zu lesen. Hier ist ein kleiner Überblick vom Inhalt:

1. Clarify the Win. When all is said and done, what is it that we want to look back on and celebrate?
2. Think Steps, Not Programs. Your programs should take people somewhere, not simply fill up their time. Ask yourself, “Where do we want our people to be? What do we want them to become? Is our programming designed to take them there?
3. Narrow The Focus. Focus is the key to achieving excellence and making an impact. Each ministry environment should be designed to do no more than one or two things well.
4. Teach More For Less. The less you say, the more you will communicate. Learn to say only what you need to say to the people who need to hear it.
5. Listen To Outsiders. The needs and interests of insiders have a tendency to determine the agenda for the organization. Focus your efforts on those you’re trying to reach, rather than those you’re trying to keep.
6. Replace Yourself. One day someone else will be doing what you are doing. Embrace the inevitable and prepare now for the future.
7. Work On It. To maintain your relevance, your sanity, and your effectiveness, you must carve out time in your schedule to step back and evaluate what you are doing and how you are doing it.

Fazit
++++
Ich bin total begeistert und kann das Buch nur wärmstens empfehlen.

Hilfreich
++++++
Das Buch gibt es auch als Audiobuch.

[...]
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Andrew Myatt
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 10, 2015
One of the best books I've read. So helpful.
P. George Elsbett
5.0 out of 5 stars Every local church leader should read this
Reviewed in Germany on April 8, 2021
I’ve read and heard so much of Andy that I didn’t think it would bring much to go through this book. So I put it off for the longest time. After all. I had heard about the seven practices before. Tried to apply some of them. „Replace yourself“ for example has been a mantra around here for years. Yet I’ve found it very helpful to plow through the practices in an ordered an more in-depth manner. It has given me new insights and will be a recommended book for our leadership team and beyond. Local churches would be SO much more life giving if they would apply these principles. Thanks again for a great book!
Liz P
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Read
Reviewed in Canada on July 14, 2015
Excellent book for all those in Leadership roles... especially those in ministry. Very practical for today's church leader... principles are broken down for simplicity and ease to follow.