Pastor to the Body of the Congregation
A Companion Guide for Congregational Clergy
- Church Leadership & Ministry
- Publisher: Wipf and Stock
- Published: 2025
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Publisher's Description
Pastor to the Body of the Congregation: A Companion Guide for Congregational Clergy fills a gap in seminary education and in-service training by applying the skills of helping individuals and families to caring for an entire congregation. This book takes an empowerment approach, drawn from social work, to lead with congregational strengths, build trusting relationships, assess needs, establish mutual goals, and work toward measurable outcomes. Social work, religious advocacy, and media relations contribute clearly presented and easily applied skills such as building rapport, creating a mutual work plan, partialization of larger tasks, acting with parsimony, and holding to task. It also draws from systems theory to identify and address obstacles to work, with a unique presentation of triangulation that includes categorization of behavior patterns such as secondhand comments, default responses, grandstanding, and gatekeeping, and provides appropriate responses for immediate application to congregational life. Of additional significance, this book takes a relational approach, as suggested by Jewish thinker Martin Buber, by labeling situations and behavior, not people, prioritizing current needs and situations over in-depth historic study and analysis, and underscoring the intention of staying in relationship with our congregants, even when we react with upset.
Endorsements (2)
“This is a terrific guide for clergy who are transitioning into new positions, no matter if they are interim or settled. It is full of practical suggestions for navigating those complex and fraught situations that clergy confront every day. Ross has written a valuable resource for ministers, priests, rabbis, and many others. Any clergyperson could benefit from reading this book—especially interims, the newly ordained, and those starting with new congregations.”
“Those of us who serve congregations know well moments, even seasons, of pastor and people contributing and growing together: synchronized, dynamic, complex, energized, altogether life-giving. We know, too, feeling disoriented, exhausted, confounded, tipped side-ways, out of balance, out of patience—pastor and people on their last nerve. Rabbi Ross offers himself as a companion from feeling stuck and out of balance . . . Along the way he offers signposts, points out dangers, forms questions that provoke and guide, names best practices, and with a pastor’s heart affirms the good, names what hinders. For all the rich resources and practical wisdom herein, Dennis reminds us that we are, indeed, Pastor to the Body of the Congregation.”
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