Escape from Church, Inc.

by E. Glenn Wagner

A call for pastors to return to their biblical calling as shepherds. Escape from Church, Inc. calls pastor-leaders away from the business executive model of doing church and back to the model of a caring shepherd who tends his sheep. Wagner offers a practical and biblically sound view of how pastors can become all God intended them to be and guides them into new vision, new values, and a new way of pastoring that begins not with doing, but with seeing and being.

Genres: Christian

256 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 1999

Reviews

[Minista Brenden · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was interesting. It helped a lot. I was studying the different types of leadership, like servant leaders, selfless leaders, etc., when I read it. I still have a lifelong amount of studies on these things and doing them in practice, too, though. Leadership is a big topic and probably the focus of the most business books published each year, by my assessment, as well.

It showed why the parable in the Holy Bible of the shepherd leaving 99 sheep to find 1 in real terms. It showed why sometimes that is wise and needed, too. You have to care about even the least of thee as a pastor, parent, and leader of any type. You will have your favorites and your "problem children" as a leader, but the good shepherd cares for the whole of the herd. I learned that from this book, and how to shepherd over the whole of the flock and lead them all to a better place of being together.

That is the whole of it, how to lead people to move in togetherness, despite differences, by setting a good example and getting in there and showing you care by laboring with them and listening to them as a leader.

[Samuel Cowan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had to read this book as part of the course I am doing for my BD. Now I have to go back through it as the questions are related to each chapter.
If any Pastor believes that his calling is to “shepherd God’s flock” then I recommend that they read this book. Chapter 11 is really interesting in reading the answers he receives from Joe Stowell, John Piper and a few others who believed they where called to be a “Pastor/Shepherd” of the church they where called too.
I would recommend this book to any student considering the role of Pastor.

[Chris Whitehead · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good book to remind pastors that they are called to be shepherds of people and not CEOs of corporations.

[Lew Everling · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great info and so relevant today!

[Mark Drinnenberg · Rating 4 out of 5]

The only reason I didn't give this book five stars is because it is so repetitive. It makes the same point over and over again and might have made a very good long article in a magazine. However, I enjoyed the book immensely. It is a call for pastors to fulfill their biblical calling as shepherds rather than trying to be CEOs, which is the current prevailing model in American evangelicalism. I wish every pastor would get a copy of this book, read it, and take its message to heart.