Sample Chapter

About

Your first year of ministry brings brand-new challenges—often with inadequate preparation and little time to adjust. How do you moderate meetings, manage a church budget, and counsel struggling congregants, all while preparing sermons every week?

The new pastor’s time is also inundated with something else—advice! Too much of it! Where do you begin? What you need during your make-or-break first year is practical, realistic preparation for ministry. Drawing from more than three decades of his own experience, Pastor Wingard gives essential help for navigating the principal duties of the minister.

Find the tools you need to get established in your ministry and lead with confidence.

Endorsements

“I cannot conceive of anyone from whom I would rather receive counsel on the practice of the Christian ministry. . . . Even if you have been in the ministry for a long time, there are things to be learned and relearned here.”

—Ligon Duncan, Chancellor/CEO, Reformed Theological Seminary

“This book is simply excellent—extremely practical and exceedingly wise. The writing is clear, direct, and full of good sense.”

—Kevin DeYoung, Senior Pastor, Christ Covenant Church

“This book will save many young pastors from unnecessary error and heartache; maybe more importantly, it will save the congregations they serve from the same.”

—Jason Helopoulos, Author, The New Pastor’s Handbook

“This book will prove uniquely useful to new pastors. It cuts through the fog and confusion of the early days in a new church and lasers in on what simply must be done and how to do it well.”

—David Murray, Professor of Old Testament and Practical Theology, Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary

The Author

Charles Malcolm Wingard

Charles Malcolm Wingard (MDiv, Vanderbilt Divinity School; DMin, Greenville Theological Seminary) is associate professor of practical theology at Reformed Theological Seminary in Jackson, as well as senior pastor of First Presbyterian Church (PCA) in Yazoo City, Mississippi.

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