Supervising and Supporting Ministry Staff

A Guide to Thriving Together

By (author) Kevin E. Lawson, Mick Boersma

Publication date:

13 June 2017

Length of book:

188 pages

Publisher

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

Dimensions:

236x160mm
6x9"

ISBN-13: 9781566997850

Surveys of pastoral staff repeatedly show that senior or supervising pastors consistently rate their working relationships with their associate staff members higher than do the associate staff members. Satisfaction levels follow similar patterns. In many cases, supervisors are not aware of or attentive to the concerns of their staff, and yet, these staff members are critical to the success of the church. Supervising and Supporting Ministry Staff is a research-based guide to the senior/associate staff relationship that is filled with real-life stories and practical advice to help readers negotiate their staff relationships successfully. The book focuses not only on the business mechanics of the supervisor/supervisee relationship, but also the full experiences of the associate staff, including emotional and spiritual needs. This helpful resource addresses congregations of all sizes across denominations and discusses a range or supervisor/supervisee relationship types.

Chapter 1: Introduction: Foundations for Supervising and Supporting Associate Staff
Chapter 2: Forming and Leading the Ministry Team
Chapter 3: Time Together, Part I: Constructive Regular Team Meetings
Chapter 4: Time Together, Part II: Profitable Occasional Team Gatherings and One-On-Ones
Chapter 5: Facilitating and Supporting the Ministry of Your Associate Staff
Chapter 6: Supporting Staff Personally
Chapter 7: Staff Review and Development
Chapter 8: Letting Go – Staff Transitions
Chapter 9: Self-care as a Ministry Supervisor
Appendix A: Resources for Supervising Pastors
Appendix B: Overview of the Research Process

As someone who has supervised staff in multiple ministry contexts for more than thirty years, I wish I’d had a resource like Supervising and Supporting Ministry Staff available to me twenty years ago! Drawing on years of deep experience and rich research, Kevin Lawson and Mick Boersma have written an extremely insightful and practical book to guide those who are charged with supervising ministry staff. Particularly helpful are the many excerpts of interviews with both staff members and supervisors sprinkled throughout the book. Not only do I highly recommend this important book, I will be using it to personally improve my own supervision of staff.