Pedestrian presbyter

THE SHEPHERD LEADER
Achieving effective shepherding in your church
By Timothy Z. Witmer
P&R Publishing (distributed in the UK by Evangelical Press). 268 pages. £13.99
ISBN 978-1-59638-131-5

What’s not to like and praise about a book which is solid, biblical and thorough on the subject of church leadership? On the face of it, nothing: I didn’t read anything with which I disagreed (though there is an emphasis on Presbyterian forms of church government, as you might expect); I read plenty that warmed my heart and challenged my own thinking about leadership in church.

It begins with a detailed survey of leadership from biblical principles through church history culminating in a long chapter answering the question, ‘Where have all the shepherds gone?’ Good question, and well answered, but this first section does not necessarily help the book — is it a survey of church leadership or a church leadership help guide? I wonder whether focusing on one or the other might have helped?

The four exhortations to shepherds (know/feed/lead/protect the flock) are all sound and tackled at both a macro and micro level. As I said, all useful. But it does all feel a little pedestrian and, at times, formulaic (‘matrix for ministry’, ‘four fundamental functions’, ‘seven steps’). As a church leader you may well find this book both helpful and insightful, just not particularly exciting.

Adrian Reynolds,