The Flourishing Pastor: Recovering the Lost Art of Shepherd Leadership

by Tom Nelson, Chris Brooks (Foreword)

Christianity Today Book Award―Church and Pastoral Leadership The Gospel Coalition Book Awards Honorable Mention Pastoral leadership is in crisis. It's not just that many pastors feel overwhelmed and stressed out; many have lost their way. With the risk of burnout at an all-time high, what pastors need is not just a new leadership strategy, but a new framework for ministry―one that will help them move from survival to flourishing. In these pages, Tom Nelson looks to the biblical image of the shepherd leader in response to the contemporary context. If pastors are to lead congregations, then they must first learn what it means to be led by the Good Shepherd. Pulling from his years of experience as a lead pastor and president of a nonprofit, Nelson offers pastors and ministry leaders a timely vision for leadership that incorporates in-depth biblical teaching and whole-life discipleship. His wisdom and insight provide a roadmap for ministry resilience and longevity.

Genres: Leadership, Christian, Church, Theology, Nonfiction

256 pages, Paperback

Published December 14, 2021

About the author

Tom Nelson is an award-winning author and speaker and the founding pastor of Christ Community Church, a large multisite church in Kansas City. He is founder and executive chairman of the national nonprofit Made to Flourish, which helps church leaders equip their people for everyday life in the workplace and the economy. He also is a founding council member of The Gospel Coalition and previously served on the leadership team of the Oikonomia Network. Nelson and his wife, Liz, have two grown children and live in Leawood, Kansas

Reviews

[Jeff Breeding · Rating 2 out of 5]

Full disclosure: I pastor a small-to-medium sized church, so I don’t know if I’m the intended audience for the book. That caveat aside: the book is not great. There are a few insights worth remembering - e.g., emphasis on maintaining a walk with Christ. But overall, it’s just not good. A few points:

1) So many cliches. Chapters read like a survey of leadership quotes and various bits of Christian lingo that don’t have much content.

2) Large church pastor syndrome. Much of the book’s counsel assumes you have a large staff and budget. Most pastors don’t. As a result, the book feels rather unrealistic, at least for guys like me.

3) Lack of self-awareness. I’m sure Nelson is a fine man, so I want to be careful. But he’s the hero of so many stories! He’s the star of so many examples. The worst was the call to embrace obscurity…from a pastor writing a book and sharing how he turns down more conference invitations these days. It just wore thin after a while.

[Justin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really excellent! If you are in vocational ministry or thinking about vocational ministry, you should read this book.

[Steve Watson · Rating 2 out of 5]

I tend to avoid books by authors associated with the Gospel Coalition. The neo-Calvinism, the anti-LGBTQ slant, the centering of white male Protestant voices and experiences, and more are not edifying for me.

This book was mailed to me by an organization I last participated in years ago, and I decided to read it, because I had visited the church in Kansas City Tom pastors and briefly met him, I believe, as part of some work-faith integration learning I was doing at the time. I remember that so much Tom and his church were doing in this regard was thoughtful and impressive, so I gave this book on pastoring well over many years a shot.

The gaps are familiar - the biases above, as well as non-critical readings of scripture, such as accepting King David's life as a model for pastoral leadership, making points through serial proof texting rather than deeper contextual dives into a particular scripture, or stating a goal without sufficient examination of what it really means or how to get there. (There is one chapter a lot of talk about "intimacy with Jesus" without real exploration of what that entails and how one might find it.)

But in other ways, the book has extraordinary advice for pastors. I benefit from the reminders of the profound significance of the health of my own spiritual life as well as personal integrity. And the skills section has useful reminders and teaching on faithful presence as a way of leadership, the cultivation of culture, fostering faith-life-work integration, and finishing well as a leader.

(For instance, Nelson shares four questions he's regularly asked himself. (1) What are my strengths and vulnerabilities? (2) Are there weeds growing in my soul that need attention? (3) What mid-course corrections do I need to make now? (4) Who will I team up with to help me finish well? I expect I'll use these questions.)

I benefit from Nelson's experience, wisdom, and advice, for which I'm grateful.

[Richard Myerscough · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall, very helpful and much to think about. Often it's very perceptive and convicting. Some chapters are less so, perhaps due to the context Tom writes from. It also includes a helpful discussion guide that would make it suitable for use by ministry teams/ministers fraternals.

[Brandon H. · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you are new to the Christian faith and sense a calling to the pastorate you may like this one. If you've been in the faith for a while and sense a call to the pastorate and read up on the life and challenges clergy face you may find this book lacking much new to consider.

[S. Runyan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very good book. Brings out some good reminders for all leaders in the Church and in ministry.

[Matt Glidden · Rating 4 out of 5]

Solid book for pastors. Nothing surprising, just a good reminder of the calling to pastor.

[George P. · Rating 5 out of 5]

In the 1992 vice presidential debate, James Stockdale opened his remarks by asking, “Who am I? Why am I here?” The audience laughed, but his questions were (and are) serious. They concern identity and mission, respectively. 

This new year, many pastors are asking themselves Stockdale’s questions. Two years of the politics, pandemic, and protests that have divided the nation have also divided their congregations, leaving them dazed. Longer-term trends such as secularism, privatization of faith, and professional specialization have left pastors confused.

The result is vocational uncertainty for pastors and missional drift for congregations. What is a pastor in a secular age? What do churches do when media influencers preach, psychologists offer spiritual counsel, activists lead social change, and self-help gurus provide the leadership advice even pastors crave?

No wonder many pastors ask who they are and why they are here.

Tom Nelson helps pastors think through these questions in The Flourishing Pastor. He leads Christ Community Church, a multisite Evangelical Free congregation in the Kansas City metroplex, and is president of Made to Flourish, whose mission is “to empower pastors and their churches to integrate faith, work, and economic wisdom for the flourishing of their communities.”

Nelson uses Psalm 78:72 — “David shepherded them with integrity of heart; with skillful hands he led them” — to outline the vocational clarity, holistic integrity, and leadership skill necessary for pastoral ministry.

Let’s briefly look at each of these three points:

Vocational clarity. Pastors often equate vocation with job. They think of ministry in terms of tasks such as preaching, visitation, and administration. Nelson argues that the pastoral vocation goes much deeper. 

"At the very heart of the pastoral calling is our indwelling of this ongoing and unfolding story about Jesus — living, loving, breathing, and sharing the good news,” Nelson writes. “The pastor has a lifelong quest not merely to know about God, but to know God personally and to be known by God intimately.”

Relationship with God both comes before ministry and makes ministry possible.

Holistic integrity. Nelson says pastors should resist the temptation to define integrity solely in ethical terms, as “conformity to a set of rules, being honest with others, or even being true to ourselves.” Integrity includes, but is not limited to, ethics.

Integrity encompasses all of life. “Jesus invites everything we are and do to be brought into his yoke, his burden,” Nelson writes, alluding to Matthew 11:28–30. “To keep [Jesus] out of some parts of your life stagnates the whole you.”

Nelson calls this Matthean passage the “Great Invitation.” Pastors are not just disciple makers; they are lifelong disciples. They never arrive at the point where they can disregard Jesus’ command, “Follow me,” uttered at the beginning and end of His ministry (Mark 1:17; John 21:22).

Skillful leadership. Nelson identifies five competencies pastors must develop to lead congregations well: “faithful presence,” “cultivating a flourishing culture,” “connecting Sunday to Monday,” “a new scorecard,” and “finishing well."

These competencies pertain to the spiritual formation of church members and the stewarding of congregational influence in the broader community.

Nelson says pastors are “called to nurture our parishioners’ souls and to equip them for their callings and contributions in the world” and “must become more attentive to the well-being of our communities” and “the flourishing of the most vulnerable.”

Being precedes doing, and mission emerges from identity. The Flourishing Pastor thus narrows pastors’ self-understanding and broadens their horizon. Spiritual formation is a pastor’s primary task, both personally and congregationally. But the horizon of formation stretches beyond Sunday worship to Monday work.

Nelson writes, “Flourishing pastors are marked by a long resiliency in the same direction.” 

As you lead in ministry this year, may you flourish in your love for Christ, and may Christ’s love give you resilience to pastor in an increasingly post-Christian world!

Books Reviewed
Tom Nelson, The Flourishing Pastor: Recovering the Lost Art of Shepherd Leadership (Downers Grove, IL: IVP, 2021). 

P.S. If you liked my review, please click “Helpful” on my Amazon review page.

P.P.S. This review is cross-posted from InfluenceMagazine.com by permission.

[Nate Xing · Rating 3 out of 5]

Felt a bit like a ‘backsolved’ success story of a successful pastor, written in reaction to the many who have been disqualified along the course. Had some particularly helpful pointers on personal integrity of character, but it definitely seemed to lean towards skills.

Nevertheless helpful to read - if at least to learn from others and sharpen one’s own convictions!

[Josh Olds · Rating 5 out of 5]

We are in the middle of a clergy crisis. I knew that before beginning my doctoral studies on clergy loneliness, mental health, and burnout, but having inundated myself in the literature I’ve become even more convinced of it. A fair amount of clergy are not doing well and many of them would step away from being pastors if it wasn’t out of financial necessity. Speaking into that situation is Tom Nelson, president of Made to Flourish, a network that seeks to empower clergy and congregation in flourishing. His new book, The Flourishing Pastor, not only identifies some of the reasons behind the clergy crisis, but offers clear, biblical, and time-tested ways of creating healthy, long-term ministry and healthy, flourishing pastors.

Nelson divides The Flourishing Pastor into three parts: (1) emphasizing the metaphor of shepherd, (2) emphasizing integrity, and (3) emphasizing the power of presence. Overall, Nelson’s thesis is simple, but revolutionary: pastors must be shepherd-leaders who live lives of integrity and who live and work among the people they serve.

In part one, The Flourishing Pastor presents three paths that Nelson writes are particularly common and perilous. First, the celebrity pastor. While this is most common in megachurches, Nelson is also clear that mega-egos reside in churches of all sizes. Churches are more than platforms or brands, and a single charismatic leader holding all the power will eventually lead to destruction. The second is the visionary leader. Vison, Nelson writes, with or without “God told me” authority, can be deceptive, especially as leaders look forward to an unrealized ideal instead of working within the context they have. Third is the lone ranger pastor, those pastors who lead alone and have no community. Leaders divorced from their community will suffer from loneliness and isolation and their ministries and personal lives will suffer as a result. So how do we find our way back?

Part two offers a better analogy for leadership, one found throughout Scripture—the shepherd-leader. Nelson offers the following guideposts toward flourishing: trusting in God, heeding the shepherd’s call, embracing obscurity, pursuing integrity, and cultivating leadership competency. Using Psalm 78 as a guide, The Flourishing Pastor works through each of these sections. Notice how unlike most leadership literature this is. It’s not focused on the followers or focused on results, but on the internal, spiritual life and posture of the leader.

The final part of the book talks about some of the practicalities of ministry. The first one that Nelson writes about is the pastor as a faithful presence within the community. My experience in church leadership and academia is that pastors are not often seen as integrated within the communities they serve. The Flourishing Pastor notes that effective leadership is going to mean understanding and living within the situations of those you have been called to serve.

My only criticism of the book is that each chapter really needed to be its own book. Because of the scope of Nelson’s work, many of the specifics he covers are written about in just a few paragraphs or pages. Nelson is able to give readers a firm foundation, but space does not allow for a deeper dive into the issue or more specific direction. It’s a criticism of praise, I suppose. The Flourishing Pastor is the beginning of the conversation, not the end. It’s broad enough that you’ll find yourself in it, yet specific enough to point you in the right direction toward wholeness and healing.

I’m imagining many pastors picking this book up based on the title, because they don’t feel that way. The Flourishing Pastor offers hope to burnt-out pastors that leadership doesn’t have to be like this. It offers gentle criticism and redirection from pastors who have been trying to do it all by themselves. It guides clergy back into their communities, asks that they think smaller, and focus on the simple task of shepherding those God has given to them. In an era of church-growth literature where bigger is better and pastors must be CEOs, Tom Nelson offers pastors a markedly different and altogether healthier option.

[Jeff McLain · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a review of The Flourishing Pastor by Tom Nelson. Released in 2021 on InterVarisity Press, Tom Nelson looks to recover the lost art of shepherd leadership in The Flourishing Pastor. In addition to pastoring for over thirty years, Tom Nelson has become known for his work as the president of Made to Flourish, and for authoring the books - Work Matters and The Economics of Neighborly Love.

It is evident throughout The Flourishing Pastor, that Tom Nelson wants those who feel called to pastoral leadership to understand and fulfill the vision of an ordinary, local, and faithful witness that is needed as a pastor. This local and faithful witness as a pastor is one that compassionately illustrates care, rest, listening, and discipleship for the where the congregation is invested Monday through Friday. I found The Flourishing Pastor to be a compassionate and insightful guide for those navigating the challenging landscape of pastoral calling. With an evident experienced understanding of the perils and pitfalls that are unique to this vocation, Tom Nelson explores throughout The Flourishing Pastor, the essence of healthy and holistic shepherd leadership, delving into the complexities pastors face and offering wisdom to guide them back to the heart of their calling.

The book is divided into three sections. In the first section, Nelson paints a vivid picture of the pastoral calling as a challenging yet honoring vocation, acknowledging the weighty responsibilities and potential exhaustion that accompany the role. Nelson clearly emphasizes the spiritual opposition, family dynamics, and demanding leadership roles that pastors grapple with. I appreciated the three perilous paths Tom Nelson points out that he has seen many pastors unwisely traverse: the celebrity path, the visionary path, and the lone ranger path. I have witnessed pastoral leaders - and ministry leaders - live in all three of these paths.

The first part of the book also opens with what Tom Nelson sees as a crisis within pastoral callings. Nelson draws on the findings of the Flourishing in Ministry research project to highlight the alarming levels of stress and dissatisfaction among clergy. He builds on the work and research done by Matt Bloom through the Flourishing in Ministry Project. I appreciated the Flourishing in Ministry project and Matt Bloom's book on the project, and so I was glad to see some practical realities built out from this helpful research and its important findings. Tom offers a prophetic warning as he unravels the dangers of pastoral leaders who get overtaken by pursuing paths that lead to a desire for celebrity status, unaware visionary pride, or even self-isolation. Nelson’s thoughts on the toxic culture of celebrity Christianity were among some of my favorites. Throughout that warning, Tom Nelson calls pastoral leaders to be faithful in obscurity. He remarks, “Obscurity is a good place to be, and pastors are wise only to step into greater visibility if the Lord is clearly calling them to a larger ministry stage.” In addition to dissecting the draw to notability, Nelson dissects the distorted vision of success, and going it alone, reminding pastors that their true identity lies not in applause but in servant leadership. Rather, he calls pastors to work nervously for a life that is defined by its grounding in trusting in a sovereign God, heeding the Shepherd's calling, embracing obscurity, pursuing an integral life, and cultivating leadership competency. He also calls for greater resilience.

Tom Nelson then moves into the second section of The Flourishing Pastor, where he challenges pastoral leadership to live with integrity and he outlines a call to a holistically integral life. In this section, Nelson explores what it means to trust in a sovereign God, heed the Shepherd’s call, embrace obscurity, live with integrity, and cultivate greater competency and capacity in one’s spiritual life as a leader. Briefly, he confronts the tendency to embrace partial obedience and emphasizes the importance of submitting to Jesus in all aspects of life. The call to apprenticeship with Jesus resonates strongly, highlighting the paradoxical nature of pruning for greater fruitfulness. Pruning in our lives, like in the agricultural sense, leads to greater fruitfulness. He unpacks what it means to not only steward our churches well, and our calling, but even our lives. We are to pursue wholeness in our homes, bodies, and family systems. I especially appreciated Tom Nelson’s ideas on how pastors can create spaces of beauty, emphasizing the importance of embracing a holistic approach to well-being and flourishing. I think most new pastors should read this section. It would have been meaningful for me to hear much of this at the start of my journey as a pastor.

Throughout the third section of The Flourishing Pastor, Tom Nelson calls pastors to greater awareness of what is happening in their congregational communities and the world around them. He emphasizes what it means to have a faithful presence in the region, and for the local church community, through greater cultural intelligence and attentiveness to the shifting cultural currents. Nelson advocates for a faithful incarnational and missional presence approach to communal and cultural engagement. However, Tom Nelson strongly challenges pastoral leaders to steer clear of political partisanship and embrace a posture of loving service. This book came out in 2021, and that was when I first read this book, I cannot ignore how this part of the book was especially needed in the era it released of great political misinformation, polarization, alignment, and pressure. It still is an important challenge.

In this third section, Tom Nelson also explores the art of cultivating a healthy church culture by focusing church communities not only on the weekend gathering, but the preparation of the church communities for the Monday through Friday realities in which they live, work, study, and play. Tom highlights the role of shepherd leaders in setting the relational tone, balancing vulnerability with strength, and weaving the tapestry of congregational stories into the fabric of the church's identity. Throughout this section of The Flouring Pastor, the reader also faces the vital need for congregations to bridge the gap between worship on Sundays and the realities of daily life. Nelson advocates for a needed shift in focus from the traditional pastoral scorecard to one that measures the impact on congregants' lives and their engagement in Monday worlds. In fact, by giving the church a significant new scorecard and metric framework, he importantly calls us away from a 4B scorecard of brand, budget, buildings, and butts in the seat.

I highly recommend this book. In The Flourishing Pastor, Tom Nelson masterfully weaves together deep theological reflections, practical pastoral advice, and personal reflections from his experiences to create a comprehensive guide for pastors navigating the intricate terrain of their calling. Again, this would have been a helpful read at the start of my pastoral journey years ago. Even so, this by no means is a book for new pastoral leaders alone. Tom’s emphasis on trust, humility, integrity, and a faithful presence offers a refreshing perspective on the true essence of shepherd leadership which is an important call to “return to the heart” of leadership for all pastoral and ministerial leaders. Even more, his focus on how to shift and shape a church community into better life stewardship, new communal metrics, missional discipleship, and workplace ministry will be areas I continue to return to for my consideration and growth and I believe any leader would enjoy. This book is not just a manual for pastors; it is a soulful journey, an empathetic companion for those seeking to flourish in the noble yet demanding vocation of shepherding a local church community.

[FluffyMonkey · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had very strong and very mixed feelings about this book. I'm not a pastor, nor do I have pastoral inclinations, so I am definitely not Nelson's target audience, which may impact my perception of it. I hate to give such a low rating to a book on a subject so dear to my heart, but I'm still so ... confused that I can't in good conscience rate it higher.

Overall: Nelson is a thoughtful pastor with godly intentions, but the execution of the book leaves much to be desired.

The Good:
- Nelson seems to come back most frequently to the foundation that a pastor will only flourish to the extent that they are embedded in intimacy with Jesus.

- I read this book alongside Jesus and John Wayne, and it doesn't fall into macho or embattled or aggressive leadership. It even makes a point to use language that includes denominations with female pastors.

The Bad:
- Another reviewer mentioned Nelson having Large-Church-Pastor-Syndrome, which is pretty accurate. His advice for flourishing and finishing well seems to revolve around "I'm just in the spotlight so much and so influential, how do I handle it?" Which is a valid question, but overlooks the vast majority of pastors who will never face the temptations of "greenroom pride." And the existence of bi-vocational pastors is only mentioned once as an afterthought.

- The book is incredibly vague. I'm still not positive I know what the throughline was, and the pages are so full of generalizations and "Christianese" coated advice, that it was hard to pinpoint any actual steps to take. As mentioned above, there is a focus on intimacy, but a dearth of clarity on how such intimacy is achieved.

-Nelson is the main star of this book and every illustration features him. I think this stumbling block is one of writing tone rather than ego. While he gives us many facts about his life, there is no real vulnerability in the tone of the book, so his personal anecdotes feel self-aggrandizing rather than honest and conversational.

Theological "huh?"s
- The main metaphor for the book is that pastors should approach their work modeled after king David's shepherd leadership, especially as revealed in Psalm 78:72, "So he shepherded them according to the integrity of his heart, And guided them with his skillful hands." But there is no explanation for why a description of David in his political role as king should become a blueprint for pastors in their spiritual roles. An argument could be made, certainly, but he doesn't bother to make it.

- Similarly, he takes the circumcision-institution part of the Abrahamic Covenant and tries to make it a blueprint for an integrity-filled life. Rather than a unilateral covenant God makes with Abraham for God's own glory, the passage becomes a promise that if (not unilateral) you cultivate intimacy with God, he will grant you influence. God “invites Abraham to experience the flourishing life he had been designed to live” (69). And this despite the author of Hebrews declaring, “All these died in faith, without receiving the promises.”

This is my biggest beef with this book. Nelson’s theology is not one of flourishing in exile—it is one of achieving victory. Not quite name it and claim it, but very close. He encourages work done for God, and indeed, his focus largely revolves around work.

The gospel of this book is not a holy God’s mercy to sinners who come like beggars and are welcomed as children. It is “the gracious life of blessing, now and forever” (76).

[Bill Pence · Rating 5 out of 5]

The author is a pastor, founder of the Made to Flourish organization, and author of Work Matters and The Economics of Neighborly Love. He writes that the pastoral calling is a very challenging vocation. He tells us that many pastors are not flourishing. When pastors flourish, congregations flourish, and when congregations flourish, communities flourish. However, when shepherds become lost, neither they nor their flock flourish.
This excellent book is about shepherd leadership. The author uses Psalm 78:72 as an inspirational framework for exploration and reflection. In Psalm 78 and throughout Scripture, the guiding model given for pastoral leadership is one of a shepherd.
The book is divided into three parts:
• The Shepherd
• Integrity of Heart
• Skillful Hands
Among the subjects addressed in the book are pastoral isolation, followership, wisdom, self-care, close relationships, a hurried spirit, guilt, shame, cultural intelligence, political views, faithful presence, organizational health, storytelling, core values, the Sunday-to-Monday gap, a shepherding scorecard, mentoring and multiplying shepherding leaders and finishing well. Throughout the book the author shares helpful thoughts from authors such as Jim Collins, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, James Hunter, Dallas Willard, Tim Keller, Max De Pree and others.
The book includes a helpful “Discussion Guide” and would be a good book to read and discuss with others.
This is a book that I can’t recommend too highly for pastors and church leaders. Below are some favorite quotes from the book:
• Jesus does not offer shepherds a green room to pridefully bask in; instead, he offers a cross to carry and a basin and towel to serve with.
• The vision pastors desperately need is not one of a humanized grand future, but a growing vision of the glory of our triune God.
• The pastor has a lifelong quest not merely to know about God, but to know God personally and to be known by God intimately.
• The big why that animates my pastoral calling, what gets me out of bed every morning and compels me to bring my best to the work God has called me to do, is I believe with every fabric of my being that the local church as God designed it is the hope of the world.
• The shepherd leader is a highly relational calling. If people are not your thing, then pastoring should not be your thing.
• Pastors must never forget that the sheep belong to God and that we are accountable for leading them well.
• Shepherding leadership done well requires an ongoing growth in leadership competency.
• To lead out of a shepherding paradigm, we need to receive God’s loving shepherding first.
• The greatest lessons of leadership arise in the process of followership—both when we follow others well and ultimately when we follow our shepherd well.
• The first call of pastoral leadership is to draw near to and follow our Good Shepherd in tender intimacy, daily obedience, and a lifestyle of joyful worship.
• Flourishing pastors cultivate a constant awareness that they are never ever alone, that their Good Shepherd is right there with them, eager to share their burdens.
• Flourishing pastors cultivate a growing and increasingly intimate friendship with the Good Shepherd of their lives, increasingly knowing him and being known by him. There is no greater personal joy or leadership priority than this.
• Of primary importance is our own self-care. Properly understood, self-care is not selfishness; it is essential to our ongoing spiritual formation and a primary stewardship of pastoral leadership.
• Imagine the impact on your life, your relationships, and your leadership if you were continually aware of God’s presence with you throughout the day. You would lead with bold faith, humble confidence, hopeful realism, and contagious joy.
• The more we grow in Christ, the deeper our communion is with him and the greater our desire to be an integral leader.
• The lost art of shepherding leadership needs the recovery of apprenticeship because it is primarily calibrated around a person, not a leadership strategy.
• The primary aim of our apprenticeship with Jesus is not to accomplish great things for Jesus, but to enjoy a growing intimacy with Jesus.
• Spending much time with Jesus is not an option for pastors; it is essential and the fountainhead of sustained and effective servant leadership.
• Growing in greater Christlikeness is the most important priority in pastoral leadership.
• Living and leading from an increasingly integral life is at the heart of being a flourishing and fruitful pastor.
• True leadership influence must be fueled by the virtuous life you are living.
• One of the most important skills of shepherding leadership is insightful navigation of the broader contours of contemporary culture.
• As pastoral leaders of faithful presence, we must grasp that a primary work of the church is the church at work.
• While pastors may have strong personal political or partisan views, I believe they must take great care if and when they bring them into the local church community.
• It is not surprising that for many pastoral leaders, the most important question in considering a pastoral call is not the denominational affiliation, the location, or even the size of the church, but the health of the church.
• Gaining and maintaining missional clarity is one of the most important stewardships of a pastoral leader.
• Many congregants need much more encouragement and support for their work as well as guidance for how to integrate their faith in their workplaces.
• A primary responsibility of shepherding leadership is encouraging and equipping apprentices of Jesus for their Monday worlds, those majority places where God has called them to be his kingdom ambassadors.
• Building regular workplace visits into my schedule has been one of the most transforming and powerful pastoral practices I have ever embraced.
• Our congregants’ work matters more than we often realize. The work they are called to do is a primary means of their worship and a large contributor to their spiritual formation.
• The ways we often define and assess ministry “success” or “failure” need prayerful reevaluation, courageous recalibration, and in many cases, heartfelt repentance.
• Faithful and fruitful pastoral leadership ought to be able to point to ongoing evidence of how shepherding leaders are being mentored and multiplied.
• It is not uncommon to start well, what is uncommon is to finish well. How we finish will greatly shape the leadership legacy we leave behind.
• Shepherding leadership is not a playground; it is a battlefield.
• As shepherd leaders we are instruments in our Lord’s hands. Our lives and leadership callings are a sacred trust; they are not ours to squander.

[Bogdan Javgurean · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nelson uses the Psalms and the image of the shepherd as a framework for his book. In the first two parts of the book he addresses the issue of burnout in pastoral ministry and proposes that pastors must build a life of communion with God to avoid it. He gives theological rationale behind his claims and practical advice for developing a holistic, sustainable lifestyle for pastoral ministry. In the third part he talks about the roles of the pastor and the criteria for success that are often overlooked.

I very much enjoyed Nelson’s overview of the three false images of the pastor that are not biblical and lead to burnout: the celebrity pastor, the visionary pastor and the lone ranger pastor. Reading about the visionary pastor image was especially interesting and challenging for me personally as it is very much the model of pastor I “grew up” with.
The parts about building a life of intimacy with God were mostly reminders and inspirations to practice what I already know. This part of the book is like a sermon for pastors, not anything new that they wouldn’t know. The practical advice about creating flourishing culture, connecting Sunday to Monday, being vulnerable and fostering connection was also not new, however it is something I value a lot.

[Rob O'Lynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Encouraging conversation from a seasoned pastoral leader about the shepherding side of ministry. Nelson's concept is rooted in Psalm 78, which is more appropriate anthropomorphically than the oft-cited Psalm 23. Much like the writing of Brian Zahnd, it finds its ethos in the experience of the author, one that draws from many years of service -- especially in a singular location for an extended period of time.

Although he shies away from topics such as engaging conflict and equality in ministry, there is an evident hue of virtue ethics in Nelson's concept of leadership. This hint of doctrinal ambiguity extends an open hand to the reader in these hotly divided times. Finally, while there is a lot of "three things about this" and "four ideas about that," the practical applications are largely lost and would benefit from a second read-through. This is actually not a deterrent, as Nelson's ethos is what keeps the reader engaged.

Overall, I would recommend this volume to ministry leaders regardless of experience level.

[Ryan Linkous · Rating 3 out of 5]

He helpfully introduces several categories to consider for pastoral leadership. I think this book would be more helpful if it prescribed or suggested practices for leaders.

Part 1 describes the crisis of the pastoral calling.

Part 2 has one consider his or her relationship with God. Although I don’t think most pastors struggle here, it’s not a bad reminder.

Part 3 is more focused on institutional aspects - reassessing goals. I think it’s helpful to rethink one’s scorecard, etc. He majorly overstates the case of “faith and work” equipping by pastors. It’s not unimportant, but it’s not necessarily the church’s or pastor’s role to add the one extra burden into its purpose for existence. I still think that’s a white collar Christian’s pursuit and no holistic.

I’d be more interested in statistic analysis being done by think-tanks on flourishing/thriving pastors. What attitudes, situations, habit, and actions lead to burnout? How does the congregation contribute to those?

Helpful if you’ve never considered any of this stuff, but sort of redundant if you have.

[Jason · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nelson provides a well-rounded exploration of what it takes to not just survive, but thrive in pastoral ministry. Nelson’s insights are insightful, drawn from a rich well of experience and a clear passion for supporting pastoral health and effectiveness.

While the book covers all necessary grounds with thoroughness and provides numerous valuable takeaways for any church leader, its pacing can sometimes feel slow. This is not to say that the text lacks passion or relevance—quite the opposite. The ministry born from these teachings has blessed me personally. However, the delivery in the book tends to be somewhat dry, which required me to push through.

Despite this, it remains a valuable resource for any church leader looking for a guide to personal and professional growth. The insights are thoughtful and beneficial for anyone in ministry looking to cultivate a healthier, more sustainable approach to their calling.

[Jonathan Roberts · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was really excited to read this book after hearing an interview with the author. In fact I reached out to the author’s ministry and they sent me books and resources so I was totally dialed in to love this. But then I really struggled through the book. Some of it is that I have never been a fan of “self-help” books, which the first half of this seemed to be. The other issue I had was how wide the author’s definition of “pastor” was. I really struggled with that in places. However, if you have read any of my other reviews you know I can be wrong, and I was about this book. I almost put it down early on but stuck with it and boy am I glad I did. The last three chapters were just what I needed and were a blessing to me. So the first half dozen chapters get two stars, the last three get five (no! Six stars!) evening out to a four star book. But one I will return to again and again.

[Josh G. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good book with some important reminders. I appreciate the authors emphasis on intimacy with Jesus as the foundation for leadership and influence. That’s an essential point and needed exhortation.

Some sections of this book shined with practical wisdom, while others seemed a bit bland and unnecessary—like the author was trying to cover too much territory or fit too much content in. Several sentences could use editing for readability and the overall length of the book could’ve been reduced to half.

This may be a great book for new pastors to read. If you’re familiar with the literature in this field, then you may not find much in this book you haven’t already read in others.

[Mark French · Rating 4 out of 5]

The text did such a great job going beneath the surface of what pastoral leadership entails. The special part about this text is it’s desire to connect the kingdom heart from Sunday to Monday.

The books is definitely shelf worthy. I’d lend this text to someone who is on a pathway to become a pastor, or even to someone who feels called to pastoral ministry and is wanting to grow. This text will give details as to how one can place habits into practice, which doesn’t have to wait for an ordination or position.

[Michael Vincent · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tom has many good insights about pastoral ministry from his many years of faithful service. He has lived out these themes and examples throughout his disciplined career. Small church pastors may struggle to relate to some of his illustrations and accounts, but Tom’s consistent desire to faithfully serve as an apprentice of Jesus is a model and challenge to us all. He certainly has been to me. I was around in the Harold Bishop days.

[Ryan and Sara Wendt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good book for people like myself discerning a call to serve in pastoral ministry after seminary. For seasoned leaders already in ministry, I sensed that this book wouldn't have any new insights to offer. I'm not really a fan of the Gospel Coalition per say, but I did find his biblical insights his biblical framework for the imagery of a Shepherd leader in relationship to our contemporary context to be helpful as mentioned in the book description. Overall, I rate this book a 3 out of 5.

[James Chester · Rating 2 out of 5]

The author has some excellent points that he makes. For someone who is new to being a pastor I see his advice as jewels for me to have and hold. I was often taken back at the many times that the author would mention the Doctrine of the Unholy Trinity. If this were different then I would have rated the book much higher. I would not recommend this title to any up and coming pastors. Many books out there say the same thing and do not push their views or doctrines on others.

[Gentry Wigginton · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a drink of life giving water for spiritual leaders. Tom Nelson gives extensive wisdom to pastors from his deep well of experience as a leader and many years of intimacy with Christ. Highly recommend for anyone who shepherds others, occupationally or otherwise.

[Daunavan Buyer · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a great book. Lots of Biblical knowledge and practical wisdom combine to invite the reader to focus their pastoral calling on what is most important. This book was both convicting and helpful.

[Kirk Metzger · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 (why will Goodreads not allow a .5 system?!)

This book had some good insights along the way, but I personally could have done with less stories of Nelson’s faithfulness and/or lessons learned. This book probably could have been ~150 pages.

[Jonathan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really solid book. A timely invitation into what for some will be a different way of leading. I found Nelson’s case compelling. May a generation of Shepherd Leaders rose to the task!

[Trevor Atwood]

Pretty good.

Basic message- don’t be flashy or aim for big crowds. Love people well over a long period of time and give them Jesus.

[Ryan Ward · Rating 4 out of 5]

A much needed reminder that as a shepherd I first and foremost need to be shepherded!

[Joe Palekas · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a really helpful book as I begin life as a pastor. It reoriented me to the primary goal of my personal life and vocation - to see Jesus more clearly and love him more deeply.