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Effective Ministry & Effective PreachingTwo curate’s eggs?THE LEADER'S GUIDE TO EFFECTIVE MINISTRY THE LEADER'S GUIDE TO EFFECTIVE PREACHING The number of books in print that address aspects of Christian ministry are legion. Two further offerings come from the Crusade for World Revival publishing house. Effective Ministry and Effective Preaching should be viewed as companion volumes (if this is not the case, one would have to criticise the former for containing only one short — and very inadequate — chapter on preaching). Both books are a collection of essays by different authors, all based in North America. Several of them contribute essays to both volumes. Some essays simply disappoint, in terms of the direction they take. Michael Slaughter’s ‘Preaching in a Post-modern Culture’, for example, seems more concerned to extol the virtues of multi-media presentation than to encourage a serious expository ministry. On the other hand, there are some real gems. The pick of part one is H.B. London’s stirring, Scriptural call to flee immorality, idols, materialism and evil desires. In part two William Willimon addresses the importance of ‘vocation over occupational advancement’. He sees a regular preaching ministry, which is God-centred rather than human-issues centred, as vital for maintaining a proper sense of vocation. Effective Preaching is, not surprisingly, the more focussed of the two books. Its essays are also more consistent in their usefulness. The opening chapter is, in fact, a re-write of a 20-year-old conference address by Billy Graham, encouraging boldness in gospel preaching in a manner one has come to expect from the famous evangelist. Haddon W. Robinson, probably best known in this country for his book Expository Preaching: Principles & Practice, offers a definition of expository preaching that is sound and succinct. William Willimon’s ‘Preaching as Worship’ is an important reminder of the place of preaching in the Christian meeting, especially in these days of the burgeoning ‘praise and worship’ movement. The discerning reader may feel that, for all the afore-mentioned gems — there are some better options on the market at present than these. Andrew Wilson,
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