Vanderbloemen, William. Bird, Warren. Next: Pastoral Succession That Works. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Publishing group. 2014.

SUMMARY:
Eventually every church has to experience change, specifically the changing of the Pastor. William Vanderbloemen and Warren Bird suggest being proactive in the succession rather than reactive. Through conversations, acceptance, reality acknowledgements, and generational difference admissions, Next leads the way to a church being truly prepared for change…

A PENNY FOR MY THOUGHTS:
It is going to happen…there is going to be a pastoral change in every church. Being ready, or at least cooperative, can help and/ or save a church great distress. Next is a very timely book sharing the differences in generations (half-time Pastors, career changes, Baby Boomer retirements), future options, and the necessity of honest and direct conversations. The three sections of the book clearly define important issues from planning, to being the exception and to transitioning. I appreciated the fact that the goal of this publication is to formulate an idea for the church and make sure most everyone is comfortable with the facts, allowing the church to hold its direction and experience a smooth procession. Interesting enough, these concepts could also be applied to life situations as well.

RATING:
5 (out of 5) pennies

*I received a complimentary copy of Next from BakerBooks for my honest review*