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    Politics of Ministry: Navigating Power Dynamics and Negotiating Interests
    Politics of Ministry: Navigating Power Dynamics and Negotiating Interests
    Politics of Ministry: Navigating Power Dynamics and Negotiating Interests
    Audiobook7 hours

    Politics of Ministry: Navigating Power Dynamics and Negotiating Interests

    Written by Bob Burns, Donald C. Guthrie and Bob Souer

    Narrated by Bob Souer

    3.5/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    We all need help navigating the politics of ministry.Politics is often considered a dirty word. It brings to mind lies and manipulation, accusations and scandals. But at its most basic level, politics is simply the everyday activity of getting things done with other people: understanding their interests, recognizing the power dynamics at play, and learning how to negotiate relationships and institutions to achieve a common goal. These realities are as true in ministry settings as anywhere else. In The Politics of Ministry, Bob Burns, Tasha Chapman, and Donald Guthrie combine their long ministry experience with sociological research on the topic. Filled with real-life stories taken from a variety of ministry settings, this book sets out wise principles and practices that help us see more clearly the political dynamics at play in our churches and parachurch ministries. All ministry is political. As servants of Christ's kingdom, we are called to navigate the politics of ministry with grace, wisdom, and charity. This book shows us how the gospel of Jesus changes the way we work with those around us toward our common goal.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherChristianAudio.com
    Release dateJan 8, 2019
    ISBN9781545910931
    Politics of Ministry: Navigating Power Dynamics and Negotiating Interests
    Author

    Bob Burns

    Bob Burns (Ph.D., University of Georgia) is the dean of lifelong learning and associate professor of education ministries at Covenant Theological Seminary in St. Louis. He is also ordained in the Presbyterian Church in America and serves as associate pastor at Crossroads Presbyterian Fellowship.

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    3.5/5

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    • 4/5
      A technical, but fruitful, exploration of power dynamics and interests in church ministry.The authors explore four examples of ministry experiences and analyze the "politics" involved. They explain the use of the term "politics" and its existence in church ministry - the negotiation of various interests as they all attempt to leverage the influence and power they have to accomplish what they deem to be their purposes/the best way forward. The authors address the different kinds of interest which might exist, different forms of power and influence, how negotiation takes place, what kinds of moves various persons will make, and reach the point of establishing a four-square dynamic of levels of power and interaction, from working together without reference to power dynamics to unequal power being leveraged to impose a will from "on high." The work is a helpful explication of power dynamics in ministry; to this end, anyone entering ministry would do well to read the book, since power dynamics will be far more involved in what you're doing than you would have imagined. Those with a few years in ministry will tend to find their experiences characterized and explained in this work.Valuable for its purposes.**--galley received as part of early review program