And Lead Us Not Into Dysfunction
The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly of Church Organizations and Their Leaders
Imprint: Wipf and Stock
Dysfunction. Anyone who has sojourned through congregations or denominations would agree that these are not immune to dysfunction. These holy organizations often eschew the standards upheld by secular organizations. It matters not that those "profane" or "worldly" processes accomplish those organizations' missions and serve humanity well--all within sound ethical boundaries. Consequently, many church organizations deny themselves the best practices of better organized entities. Their leaders think they have nothing to learn from secular leadership theory and practice. They fail to realize that not every leadership or organizational practice portrayed in the Bible is healthy or appropriate for our times. And Lead Us Not Into Dysfunction pursues the conviction that church organizations and their leaders can perform far better than they do. The book explores the causes of anything from mediocrity to dysfunction in church organizations, and outlines several helpful measures that congregations and denominations may embrace to secure organizational and leadership health. This book is a must-have for every pastor, church leader, denominational leader, seminarian, and leadership and organizational dynamics student.
Michael P. Friday is an organizational leadership specialist, serving Transition Ministries, American Baptist Churches, USA as an interim pastoral specialist. He is interim senior pastor of the Union Baptist Church in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He has pastored congregations in Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, Connecticut, Nebraska, and New York. He has degrees from the University of the West Indies, the United Theological College of the West Indies, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, and Eastern University.
Back Cover:
“Michael Friday approaches the health of congregations from a unique blend of both an insider’s theological perspective, as well as an outsider’s organizational development perspective; and from three different international locations! These perspectives are woven into a manuscript that helps congregational leaders name both healthy practices and organizational dysfunction.”
—Jeff Woods, Associate General Secretary for American Baptist Churches
“This book is a God-send to every frustrated congregational or denominational leader who is praying and trusting the Lord but is seeing very little growth and a lot of dysfunction in her or his church or denomination. Michael Friday does an excellent analysis of leadership and management problems in the church and offers practical guidance on how to adapt and utilize tried and tested management and leadership principles and processes to address these problems.”
—Anslem Warrick, Vice President of Baptist World Alliance
“Michael Friday has written a book that is enlightening and liberating. Using an engaging writing style, the book is successful in intertwining ecclesiology and missiology with leadership theories and does so by drawing on real episodes in the life of particular congregations both in the Caribbean and in the United States. Seminary students and ministry practitioners will find this book particularly useful as the church faces the challenge of a postmodern world and everything attendant to that.”
—Karl Henlin, Chairman of Caribbean Christian Publications
Front Cover:
“And Lead Us Not Into Dysfunction provides a diagnosis of congregational life in the American context. This is an important exercise, whether one shares Michael Friday’s assumptions or conclusions, or not. He draws on decades of experience as a congregational pastor as well as perspectives from experts in and outside the church. The field of organizational behavior is especially helpful in providing insights into modeling church and congregational life.”
—Eron Henry, Baptist World Alliance
“Michael Friday writes in a conversational style, making the book easy on the eyes. In addition, it is academic with 302 endnotes, analyses, and strategic plans. Everyone leaves pondering whether his or her congregation is a kingdom, bureaucracy, museum, or social club. This is a must-read book for leaders within and without the church.”
—Devon Dick, pastor, author and newspaper columnist
And Lead Us Not into Dysfunction provides a rich framework for challenging church leaders to avoid common pitfalls and to strive for excellence.
—Sue E. S. Crawford, Creignton University
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