The elephant in the church
Subtitle: what you don't see can kill your ministry
By: Jeanne Stevenson-Moessner, Mary Lynn Dell
Contributors: Dell, Mary Lynn
Publisher: Abingdon Press
Published: 2013
Place of publication: Nashville
Language: eng
Number of pages: 126
ISBN-13: 9781426753213
Subjects: Religious Psychology; Pastoral theology; Church work; Christian leadership; Church management
Description: A church can be a dangerous place. The perils may be so obvious, they become "elephants" standing in the fellowship hall, lurking in the sanctuary, ready to spring into the pastor's study, and tromp out of the choir room. The word "elephant" stands for an obvious truth or issue that is ignored or unnamed -- a blind spot. Yet we allow elephants to occupy a large amount of space in the minds and hearts of those that tiptoe around them. Discussing common blind-spots of congregations and church leaders, the authors provide examples and illustrations for how to stop these "elephants" from ruining a ministry.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references.
Table of contents: title: Elephants; title: A herd of elephants; title: Stampede (or, "You have destroyed our sweet little church"); title: The elephant that crushes your spirit : depression; title: Wild elephants that trample and crush : a.k.a. "Dealing with problematic parishioners"); title: And the elephant in the room is ... the preacher!