Wisdom from Lyle E. Schaller: The Elder Statesman of Church Leadership Kindle Edition

If you want to read a book by an author who has impacted more than 30 million people in North America in congregations and denominations through more than 90 books, then this is the book for you. I was privileged to be one of 36 people who contributed to this book. It has 25 short chapters that present key strategic insights for congregational leadership.In my book, FaithSoaring Churches, here is what I say in a dedication to Lyle E. Schaller:"This book is dedicated to Lyle E. Schaller who has been a mentor since I started reading his books 45 years ago, and began taking training directly from him 35 years ago. It is Lyle who earlier in my life urged me to write. My first solo book did not come out until 2006, which was 20 years late according to Lyle. I am trying to catch up, but you can never catch up. I will always be behind. Thank you, Lyle. I hear your voice every day."

Lyle Schaller has been the mentor for Pastors for several decades. This work is collection of thoughts from some of those who learned from him over the years. If you are looking for a gift for your pastor or a new pastor, this is a good choice.

I've been reading this new book on Wisdom from Lyle Schaller. It is exceptional! There is something about it that makes me feel like it was written just for me --- maybe because I know I will find it useful for years to come. This was such a gigantic job to simmer down all of Lyle's wisdom in so few pages and it is so readable. I know many people will be blessed by this book. Lyle has now been introduced to a new generation.

Great wisdom from America's father of Congregational Development

This has lots of snippets of insight from a brilliant man but is only a jumping off point. you would need to buy his other books to get any kind of depth on his ideas

This not only highlights the best of Schaller's thought, but also tells about his background and resulting expertise. Even though I've read alot of Schaller and devoured each book I've gotten, I love this one, too!

Over two million copies of books authored by the father of church leadership, Lyle Schaller, have been published since 1965. "The dean of church consultants" has authored or edited 96 books to help pastors, church and denominational leaders, and church board members. (That's not a typo: 96 books!)Good news! You don't have to read all 96 books to benefit from this storied thinker. Warren Bird, editor and compiler of this jam-packed toolbox, has sifted Schaller's wisdom into just 159 page-turning insights (plus appendices). My job today: sifting the sifter! Yikes.Bird is the Director of Research and Intellectual Capital for Leadership Network and has collaboratively authored or co-authored 25 books, including this gem. When I saw the title and the author, I salivated and--trust me--it's a leadership feast you'll devour.Warren Bird says that there are 10 ways Lyle Schaller will change your ministry. Here are just three:--"Give you hope that you can be an effective leader and that the best is yet to come for your congregation."--"Help you shift your focus from teaching to learning."--"Expose you to multiple choices for various decisions where you think you have only one or two options."One leader called Schaller a "precursor to Twitter." He added, "Schaller could always deliver profound ideas and predictions in 140 characters or less."Example: On the question (one of 25 big issue chapters) of "How Do I Build on the Strengths of a Large Church?" Schaller tweets:--"The day of the generalist has been replaced by the demand for specialists."--"To grow beyond 700 in average worship attendance usually requires a new rule book for a new staff configuration."--"One facet is the shift from 'doing it' to 'making it happen.'"--"More important is the shift from staffing to perpetuate yesterday to staffing to create new tomorrows."The book has two parts. Part One introduces "America's best-known parish consultant," with insights from Fred Smith, Bob Buford, Carl George, Chuck Smith Jr., Carol Childress, Mark Sweeney and others.Most readers will jump immediately into the tempting second section that spotlights 25 tough questions, sifted from Schaller's three million words. Most chapters run about five pages and begin with an in-the-trenches story from a pastor helped by Schaller's books or consultations.Chapter 5: How Should I Approach My First Year in a Pastorate?Chapter 6: How Do I Follow a Long-Term Pastor?Chapter 7: What Are the Most Important Staffing Mistakes to Avoid?Chapter 12: How Do I Build on the Strengths of a Very Large Church? (story from Rick Warren)Chapter 16: What Are the Land Mines to Avoid in a Merger?Chapter 19: What Are the Most Important Strategies for Change?Chapter 21: How Can Leaders Create Dissatisfaction With the Status Quo?Chapter 24: What's the Biggest Issue When a Church Thinks About Relocating (story from Randy Pope)Chapter 25: Should Our Church Become Multisite?Chapter 29: When Do I Know It's Time to Resign?Schaller has been called "George Gallup without the numbers." Others compare him to Peter Drucker. Thankfully, Warren Bird has done the hard work for us--sifting Schaller's wisdom:--When changes are made when following a long-term leader, "A common result of this changing of the guard is the creating of the AAOEL group. ...The initials of this informal, ad hoc, unrecognized group stand for alienated, angry, older ex-leaders."--"The first trait you're looking for in staff is character above skill."--"As a general rule, the part-time specialist is more productive and requires less supervision than the full-time generalist."--Make "a distinction between hiring staff to do ministry and choosing staff who focus on challenging, motivating, enlisting, training, placing, nurturing and supporting volunteers."In my recent review of Rumsfeld's Rules: Leadership Lessons in Business, Politics, War, and Life, I mentioned that Donald Rumsfeld listed over 400 rules in his 30-page appendix. By my count, Schaller's work exceeds that number.Here are some of his rules--and they're not just for church leaders. All leaders and managers will learn from his pithy wisdom:--"The person who is discontented with the status quo in any institution or organization has five choices." His fifth option: "Go out and create the new."--"Whoever frames the issues influences how people will respond."--"Planned change always begins with discontent with the status quo."--"One of the most difficult tasks in this world is to enlist support for change when everyone is contented with the status quo."--"Today few pastors can depend on ordination, title, and office as sources of authority. Today authority must be earned . . . by vision, competence, performance, skill, character, knowledge, creativity, hard work, wisdom, productivity, initiative, and verbal skills."Bird's easy-reading short chapters feature four succinct sections: The Story, The Sayings, The Summary, The Sources.Warning! "The Sources" notes prompted me to buy another Schaller book. The summaries are short and sweet, such as: "Wanted: The most serious shortage in our society is for skilled transformational leaders who possess the capability to initiate planned change from within an organization."On my Top Books Scale of one to five (5 = most pages underlined), this is a five. Schaller's phraseology is still fresh:--"the awkward-size church"--churches that are "too large for the grapevine to be a reliable communication channel"--and for his frequent reminder to churches that "no two are exactly alike," he adds, "Act your size!"In my first out-of-seminary job with a regional denomination, I savored the first and every issue of The Parish Paper, then written by Schaller. I read his early books. Now, with a growing number of local church clients, I'm revisiting Schaller's wisdom again.I have 50 to 100 more underlined insights from this book--but it's closing time. So here are two options:1) Read and learn from this book yourself.2) And/or give it to your pastor or church board members. (They will thank you profusely!)