A BOOK REVIEW ON LEADERSHIP HANDBOOK OF MANAGEMENT AND

ADMINISTRATION

SUBMITTED TO REV. DR. SIMON ISHOLA DEPARTMENT OF

IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENT

GODWIN OFEORITSE OGHARANDUKUN

NOVEMBER, 2022
Bibliographic information

Title: Leadership Handbook of Management and Administration.

ISBN: 978-080-106-814-0

Editor: James D. Berkley

Edition revised

Parts: 7

Chapters: 38

Length 560 pages

Year of Publication: 2013

Subjects: Religion, Christian Church, Leadership.

Publisher: Beulah land Publications with the permission of Baker Publishing Group.

Introduction

James D. Berkley is the editor of Your Church and contributing editor of Leadership journal.

He has served as a pastor for more than twenty years. Berkley lives in Washington State.

James D. Berkley in his book titled, "Leadership Handbook of Management and

Administration," James D. Berkley delves into the critical issues leaders face in running

contemporary churches. The editor presents insightful discussions on recurrent problems such

as personal, staff, and financial management, as well as the legal and tax considerations for

the church administrators. The exhaustive handbook is divided into seven parts that focus on

common thematic areas to ease understanding of the discourses presented in the book. The

current book review focuses on the discussions raised by various contributing authors to

understand some of the strategies for enhancing managerial and administrative competencies

in contemporary churches.

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 This substantial resource offers pastors and church leaders practical insight into the

daily issues of running a church. Conceived and compiled by the editors of Leadership

journal, this book covers the full spectrum of ministry practice. Readers will learn about

perennial topics such as time management, negotiating the terms of a call, handling crises and

conflicts, hiring and managing staff, conducting special fund drives, spending church money,

and dealing with tax and law considerations. This revised and expanded edition of a proven

ministry resource contains new contributions from prominent ministry leaders. Contributors

include Leith Anderson, Rick Warren, Brian McLaren, Luis Palau, John Ortberg, Aubrey

Malphurs, and many others. The handbook provides almost everything needed to know about

Church administration. Within Berkley's seven parts, approaches are substantial resources for

the daily operations and administration of the ministry. Within the seven parts are perennial

topics like time management, negotiating the terms of a call, handling crisis and conflict,

hiring and managing staff, conducting special fund drives, spending church money, and

dealing with tax and law considerations. Berkley, additionally shares over five hundred pages

of counsel directed towards as many people in pastoral ministry. Combining insight from

biblical theology, scholarly pursuits and years of practical experience, the writers have one

purpose: to help Pastors and other Christian workers more effectively serve our Lord Jesus

Christ through leading his people into abiding faith and fulfilling ministry".

Berkley's intent is "to provide a comprehensive reference for those who manage and

administer the work of ministry". One of the significant features that caught the reviewer's

attention in this book is the practical first-hand experience and expertise of mainstream

authors, pastors and leaders. Concluding most of the articles, the authors provide many

additional resources for further studies on their topics. Another significant feature is the

coverage of the minister's aspect of ministry in relationship to God. This is covered from the

call to ministry to the anointing. James Earl Massey shares, "The New Testament word that

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describes a person marked by God is the anointed. There are at least four features of anointed

service, each of which must be understood in relation to God's gracious choice of us for

assistance:

1. A sense of assertiveness from which we act.

2. A gripping knowledge that we are identified with God's will in that acting.

3. An intensity in what we do because our actions are related to the highest frame of

reference.

4. An instinctiveness for what we do. The anointing elevates ministry into the moral and

spiritual order".

However, Marsey's further explanation on being anointed for leadership, "Jesus’ use of Isaiah

61:1-2 to refer to Himself is more than a statement about His Messianic Uniqueness. It also

sets forth a requisite for every spiritual leader: Those who serve in holy things must be

accredited for that service by the Spirit of God”. The book offered Scripture, illumination,

guidance on the personal facet of a minister’s responsibility to God in ministry. In view of all

the great lessons in the book, the reviewer will be more conscious of the importance of been

anointed by the Holy Spirit to be a good leader. This serves as an eye opener that leadership

role should be handled in a more spiritual way because it is only through the anointing and

power of God that I can be effective and outstanding as a Christian leader. Also, the reviewer

which to be more patient and sensitive to receive clear and direct inspiration for the work of

the ministerial leadership.

In this complete revision of his earlier work, Building Leaders for Church Education,

Dr. Gangel carefully lays a biblical foundation for the team leadership model. This leadership

is not dogmatic control or personality worship. It has no room for political power plays.

Instead, it is Paul gently nurturing young Christians in his epistles. It is Barnabas willingly

thrusting others into situations where they develop their own gifts. It is Christ, choosing not

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one, but twelve men to carry on His ministry. It is servant leadership. With examples,

illustrations, and suggestions for further reading at the end of each chapter, Dr. Gangel prods

and encourages the reader to move beyond the safety net of autocratic leadership into the

rewarding, effective practice of leading with and through others.

Strengths of this book

“Leadership Handbook of Management and Administration” is a comprehensive scholarly

manual prepared by a team of mainstream leaders, pastors, and authors with vast expertise

and experience in managerial and administrative issues. The book presents in-depth

discussions on crucial issues that leaders in contemporary churches must contend with daily.

The overall objective of Berkley’s book is to enable church leaders, Christian workers, and

volunteers to enhance their effectiveness in serving in God’s ministry. One of the strengths

observed in “Leadership Handbook of Management and Administration” is Berkley’s

decision to divide and arrange the book topically into parts that focus on common themes.

Another significant strength in Berkley’s book is the choice of contributing authors, as the

editor engaged some of the leading scholars in Christian pedagogy and respected evangelists.

The choice of authors makes Berkley’s book authoritative and credible in addressing the

major management and administration concerns and practices in the church. The third

strength of the book is that the authors extensively use biblical references to support their

discussions, and this makes the manual useful to church leaders and Christian students.

Evaluation of the Book

Many individuals have the misconception that leadership, management, and administration

are interchangeable terms, and this leads to confusions in understanding the roles that leaders,

managers, and administrators in contemporary organizations. Leadership Handbook of

Management and Administration attempts to distinguish management and leadership in the

context of religious establishments by noting that the former focuses on stewardship of

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various resources while the latter addresses interpersonal relationships in organizations.

Leaders in contemporary churches must contend with diverse issues such as financial

management, tax and insurance requirements, and employee and volunteer management

among others. However, Berkley’s book asserts that leaders must learn to manage their

affairs effectively before attempting to assume managerial and administrative duties over

others. Leadership Handbook of Management and Administration identifies some of the vital

areas of personal management that church leaders should focus on to improve their overall

performance in serving in the Christian ministry. As a presbyter and lecturer, I will use the

information presented in Berkley’s book to educate my students primarily on personal and

financial management issues because I believe that the two are among the areas commonly

overlooked by religious leaders. I believe that my students and other individuals can become

effective managers and administrators by first improving on their personal and financial

management skills.

Conclusion

“Leadership Handbook of Management and Administration” by James D. Berkley’s is a

well-organized and comprehensive scholarly manual for students in Christian pedagogy and

church leaders that addresses the most important administrative and managerial issues in

modern-day churches. The book is systematic in presenting discourses on fundamental issues

such as personal management, transitions, leadership, staff and volunteer supervision,

management, and finances. The presentations are easy to understand because the authors use

simple languages without compromising on the quality of the content on the identified topics.

Some of the most significant discussions in the book include the assertions on the need for

increasing the church leaders’ competencies in financial, legal, and insurance issues.

Leadership Handbook of Management and Administration is an informative scholarly

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resource that is recommended for ministry leaders, church staff and administrators, and

students in Christian education.

References

Berkley, James D. (2013) (editor). Leadership Handbook of Management and