Christ-Based Leadership

PUBLISHERS WEEKLY OCT 10, 2005

Stark, a workshop leader and seminar speaker who is director of Changing Church ministries in Minnesota, offers readers an exhaustive treatise on developing a Christ-based leadership model by making comparisons to current business methods. Stark lends his personal and professional expertise to this biblically based text that delineates how to create teams of men and women that intentionally focus upon the "whole work" rather than on individual players. According to Stark, the Bible recognizes that believers, though individually specialized, can function successfully as one unit without division. He believes that the Christian church has arrived at a crossroads whereby leadership must become more "market driven and niche sensitive." Just as successful businesses have learned to adapt to "people-niches" and "people-needs," so churches should follow suit, though Stark cautions that secular models aren't always fully adequate for the church's needs and mission. He coaches church leaders to define success, ambition, focus and to learn to play to people's strengths instead of wasting effort on overcoming weaknesses. While this resource is comprehensive, its dry presentation sadly guarantees that only the most determined reader will make it to the book's end.