Wisdom in Leadership Development

by Craig Hamilton

Christian ministries want to grow—they rightly desire to see more and more people following the Lord Jesus as his faithful disciples.

And that’s why leadership matters: good leaders multiply disciple-making ministry.

Yet so many churches and other ministries struggle with leadership, and poor leadership so often massively hinders their growth.

In his first book, Wisdom in Leadership, Craig Hamilton provided a treasure trove of helpful wisdom for leaders on a multitude of topics. Now, in Wisdom in Leadership Development, he sets out a leadership pipeline and framework that will help any ministry—big or small—to better understand the various layers of leadership required and to deploy leaders who, under God, will expand the quantity and effectiveness of the ministry being done.

This book is a must for all ministry leaders.

Genres: Leadership, Christian, Nonfiction

388 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 2021

About the author

Craig Hamilton is a graduate of Moore Theological College, and is responsible for leadership development and strategy at a suburban church in Sydney. In this position he coaches leaders in addition to recruiting, developing, and deploying leaders and helping to set up leadership structures for many different ministries across the church.

Reviews

[Matthew Hodge · Rating 3 out of 5]

Possibly because I am not working at a large church where multiple layers of leadership are strictly necessary, I found this a bit dry and technical, particularly compared with Craig's other book, Wisdom in Leadership.

That said, I think it's all useful knowledge - because if my church scales up (which I do hope it will do!), this is a great system for how to think about the different levels of leadership.

But as a read by itself, it's a bit of a slog. Probably best worked through over the course of a year or two if you were actually implementing the system.

[Sophie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great concepts! Somewhat applicable to para-church ministry, but definitely targeted at church ministry. Beneficial for any volunteer - trainee - staff member - senior leader to read.

[Juanita · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book thinking I could apply it to my business but it is very church specific. In saying that I did find a gem or two in it which made it worth the read. If you are involved with leading ministries this would be an excellent book for you especially if you are higher up and have the power to implement change in team structure.
Written in an easy to read style with lots of practical ideas to implement and I like how he puts the information into an easy to read grid so you go over what you just learnt.

[Mark Morris · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. I have stepped into a higher leadership role at my church over the last year or so and it has been a fun, but challenging experience. This book gave so many helpful ideas. It gave me language and a vision for how to accomplish what I believe God has called our church to do. Now the hard work of implementing the leadership pipeline and working on identifying and tweaking our leadership culture.

[Wayne · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the most helpful books I anticipate reading this year. After reading “Wisdom in Leadership”, I had anticipated Hamilton’s follow-up release on developing a leadership pipeline. This did not disappoint.

Pastors of small, medium, or larger sized congregations would do well to familiarize themselves with the concepts in this book and to work through some of the exercises to examine culture, clarify expectations, and create pathways for growing in responsibility and leadership.

[James Bunyan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Decent sequel to the first book (and you should read them in order!) and aims to solve an important problem; how to continuously develop leaders! But it’s not quite as insightful as the first and I struggled with the overarching metaphor. Still a good one to own and revisit if you’re in a senior ministry position.