Oversee God's People: Shepherding the Flock Through Administration and Delegation

Practical Shepherding

by Brian Croft, Bryce Butler

The Bible gives instruction to those called to church leadership, challenging them to shepherd God’s people by exercising oversight. But what does that mean? And how is it done in a way that is faithful to God and effective in enabling growth, individually and corporately?

The Practical Shepherding series of guides provides pastors and ministry leaders with practical help to do the work of pastoral ministry in a local church. In Oversee God’s People, pastors Brian Croft and Bryce Butler unpack what the Bible teaches about administration and the necessity of delegation in congregational leadership, offering practical suggestions to improve the structures, process, and relationships among leaders in your church.

Genres: Leadership, Christian, Church

120 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 4, 2015

About the author

Brian Croft is Senior Pastor of Auburndale Baptist Church in Louisville, Kentucky. Brian is the founder of Practical Shepherding, a non-profit organization committed to equipping pastors all over the world in the practical matters of pastoral ministry.

Reviews

[Josh · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good stuff. Simple, but some really helpful, 5 star paragraphs throughout.

[Scott Meadows · Rating 4 out of 5]

A clear and concise little introduction to Church Administration with a heart for the souls of your church without ignoring the importance of running a business.

Does not dive deep into how to go about the little details of each topic but at least gives you a working knowledge and vocabulary to think more about such topics/issues as they arise.

[Nathanael Barr · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent book, well put together and certainly edifying. While some parts of the book were more applicable to those in an American context, no doubt all of the book was encouraging, and useful. It covered many of aspects of church leadership, why they are necessary and how to carry them out most effectively. The authors showed deep care for those involved in ministry, and gave good means to how others can do the same. Definitely worth a read.

[Craig · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was thankful for this little book on church administration. It had some helpful recommendations for a pastor of a local church.

[George Marshall · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a book with bountiful good advice on picking up the leadership mantel within the church. Sometimes it was unclear whether the context was a staff-led church or an elder-led church, but I felt the authors still did a great job of illuminating the role of pastors and pushing toward shared leadership and ministry.

Later chapters are increasingly filled with suggestions that have little biblical underpinning, but are reasonable concerns in our modern church context. Earlier chapters are much more dense in scripture. Overall, I definitely recommend this quick read.

[Ian Minielly · Rating 4 out of 5]

I give Croft and Butler four stars for this addition to the Practical Shepherding series. I give the book huge props for being brief and quick as it covers this topic. I give it only four stars because I did not really gain anything new compared to other books on this same topic. I might recommend this book over other larger books because of its brevity though. I look forward to finishing the other PS books in the series.

[Jonathan Roberts · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great book by the crew at Practical Shepherding, making the case that administrative work is shepherding work. This was a great reminder for me and one I put into immediate practice. Being a new pastor with a building in need of constant maintenance it is hard to see how it blesses the people, this book reminds us it does. It also lays out lots of ground work for good administration work. Highly recommended

[Brian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Short and efficient, with excellent Biblical references. Some of the martial will be familiar if you've read Croft's other Practical Shepherding books, but overall this is a good addition to the growing list of Practical Shepherding resources. It'd a be a great resource for Elders to study together.

[Joel Opificius · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a helpful resource on pastoral church administration. There is a bit of overlap with some of Brian Croft’s other resources, but this book attempts to look at the whole ministry through the lens of oversight/administration. I personally found the chapter on managing church finances very helpful.

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very helpful book for Elders/Pastors/Overseers! The practical advice is abundant and helps puts forth both wise principles and clear application of those principles. I believe this to be a great book for those in ministry, those desiring ministry and even for those men not in ministry as there are items which could be applied to the husband/father of the household.

[Taylor Sines · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great baseline guide for theological/administrative vision for the pastor and his responsibilities. Helpful for new pastors and longtime pastors who need a fresh reminder of what they need to focus on most.

[Luke Watts · Rating 3 out of 5]

A simple but important little book, full of helpful biblical counsel & experience. There were parts that were far too specific to an American context (financial & advice about guns 🤷🏻‍♂️), but overall it was an accessible, straightforward, & informative title.

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very helpful resource for pastors to have on hand. Though brief, the authors cover many topics dealing with administration and delegation.

[Jim Savastio · Rating 5 out of 5]

Helpful and practical!

[Nate Mason · Rating 5 out of 5]

Even though this book is short, it is packed with nuggets of practical information. Since it is easy to read, it is ideal for lay leaders and lay pastors in a church.

[Steven Evans · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really an excellent book. Perhaps my favorite in the series thus far. Lots of practical advice.

[Kevin · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent resource from Brian Croft.

[Gareth Davies · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good stuff on the whole but a little high level at times. Nuggets throughout.

[jacob van sickle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short, helpful book.

[Ben Clouston · Rating 4 out of 5]

This series of books is an excellent resource for new pastors.

[Andrew Krom · Rating 5 out of 5]

Helpful and practical!

[Matthew Rawlings · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another valuable resource from Practical Shepherding. Recommended.

[S. Stutzman · Rating 2 out of 5]

Honestly I’m not sold on the premise: “Shepherd the flock of God” and church administration being under that veil. The logic goes something like “since taking care of the flock entails taking care of all parts of the flock, then church administration falls under this.” But under this logic, virtually anything could be given to the pastor that constitutes “shepherding the flock.”

I personally believe part of the reason for so many pastors leaving the church in recent years is because they’ve been called to do up and beyond the basic requirements of Scripture. No longer do pastors pray, teach the Word, minister to the sick and elderly, and help lead worship—these things alone. Now they’re expected to look into security for the church, oversee all classrooms and teacher, do all the counseling, be available at virtually anytime—and basically be savvy enough to run a business. Unfortunately, I think all these ordinary pieces of work should either be given to other elders or the deacons of the church so the pastor can focus on the spiritual welfare of the church.

So needless to say, I’m not sold on using 1 Peter 5:1-2 for basically anything necessary the church seems fit. I’m not a business man or a spiritual company runner; I’m a pastor who cares for souls.

RE: Follow-up. I will say there’s a lot of wisdom here. But again, I think this is why many churches use administrative pastors since it could be a singular title given the amount of work. I can’t imagine a small church pastor doing anything well if they had to do all this. I’ve changed my review slightly.

[Paul Lintott · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good practical advice although some of it is aimed at a North America context when it comes to financial considerations.

[Shaun Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found the book to be a rather enjoyable read! I felt the love the authors had for the sheep and the shepherds (in contrast to other authors' love for their pockets in their writing of yet another useless self-justifying book of their opinionated practices). The content was easily comprehensible and engaging enough to read large chunks at a go. The references were Scripture were helpful and I did not find myself being jolted by any weird out of context citing that typically plagues books on practical ministry. The latter part of the book had many beneficial practical frameworks that any lead pastor would find useful to consider implementation (or the refining of existing procedures).

[Jason · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's not that this book is poorly written, but that's it's so general that I'm not certain who would truly gain from reading it.

I suppose a church planter looking for an aerial view of what an oversee does could glean from the chapter titles and headings.

For a book that costs more than $10 we should get more than a summary of the outline.

[Rand Hall · Rating 3 out of 5]

A 30,000' overview. Not very deep. Croft's choice to use "administrate" rather than "administer" was grating...and since it was a focus of the book it was endless nails on a chalkboard.

[Pete Williamson · Rating 3 out of 5]

A quick read. Does a good job of mapping out the responsibilities of the pastor and providing several useful little nuggets that I hope to make use of.

[Brad Merchant · Rating 3 out of 5]

Helpful, but not practical enough.