The solo pastor must be a true generalist, skilled in organizational management, leadership, voluntter recruitment, pastoral care, Bible interpretation, worship leadership, and preaching. With warmth and wisdom, Stan Toler offers practical advice for the pastor whose staff meeting is held in the mirror.

'Being too cautious is the greatest risk of all.'--Jawaharlal NehruIs your church at a crossroads, trying to measure if a risk is worth the reward? Perhaps you're considering a new building project, changing worship styles, hiring a new staff member, or even planting a new church. Do you feel like you're standing on the edge, deciding whether or not to jump? Are you wondering if your parachute will open on the way down?A fine line exists between taking risks in faith and foolishness. Foolishness is like jumping off a tall building—laws of gravity inevitably cause the jumper to get hurt. By contrast, faith dares with God to dream the impossible but also walks in ways consistent with God's principles.Taking Risks in Ministry provides principles for managing risk in a variety of areas including finance, administration, worship, and discipleship. Learn to minimize the downsides of risk and maximize the potential to help your church grow. Well-known church leaders including Dale Galloway, Walt Kallestad, Dick Wills, Wayne Cordeiro, Bill Easum, Elmer Towns, Leith Anderson, Sally Morgenthaler, and Maxie Dunnam share methods for judging the acceptability of risks and lessons they have learned through taking risks in their own ministry.

Christians have a desire to see revival happen in their cities, but they also have questions about how to bring about revival that leads to lasting change. This work examines the factors of what makes revival happen and what causes it to endure. It offers 10 principles that explain how to steward the presence of God during times of revival.

Many recent books have attempted to address the "crisis" in the mainline church. Anthony Robinson here makes a significant -- and in many ways unique -- contribution to this discussion by bringing his personal insights as a pastor to bear on the issue of renewing congregational life.

Writing from twenty-five years of experience in four congregations of differing size, location, and ethnic makeup, Robinson prescribes concrete changes in the practice of ministry that have been tried, tested, and lived out to great success. At the heart of his framework for church renewal is what he calls "cultural change." According to Robinson, technical or programmatic change is not sufficient to address the needs of the day. He argues for changing the very culture of mainline congregations, which involves recognizing and fostering their particular gifts and genius rather than trying to remake them into something they are not. His fruitful strategies for renewal touch every aspect of congregational life, from personal spiritual formation to church leadership.