A healthy church is a great place of healing.
But an unhealthy church causes problems for everyone who touches it – including the pastor who’s called to help turn it around.
So how does a pastor keep spiritually and emotionally healthy while living, worshiping and leading in an unhealthy environment?
Turning an unhealthy church around is one of the hardest tasks any pastor will ever be called to do. Don’t attempt it without observing these nine principles to protect yourself and your family:
Author
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Karl produces resources for Helping Small Churches Thrive at KarlVaters.com.
He's the author of five books on church leadership, including his newest, De-Sizing the Church: How Church Growth Became a Science, Then an Obsession, and What's Next. His other books include The Grasshopper Myth and Small Church Essentials.
Karl also hosts a bi-weekly podcast,The Church Lobby: Conversations on Faith & Ministry, featuring in-depth interviews about topics that concern pastors, especially those who minister in a small church context.
Karl has served in small-church ministry for over 40 years, so he speaks and writes from decades of hands-on pastoral experience. He and his wife, Shelley have three children and two grandkids.