How to Get Along With Your Church: Creating Cultural Capital for Doing Ministry

by George B. Thompson Jr.

By culture, George B. Thompson Jr. means not just racial, ethnic, economic, or regional culture, but also a congregation's way of doing things--its history, customs, conventions, and procedures. In order to launch and maintain a successful ministry, pastors and other church leaders must come to grasp that unique culture of their parish. They must develop a "culture capital" within their congregations, meaning that they invest themselves deeply in how their church does its work and goes about its ministries. The author presses clergy to answer such questions as "How well do I know what I'm getting into?" and "Have I been adopted yet?" and even "Is it time to move on?

170 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2001