Building and Sustaining a Thriving Leadership Culture \n \n \nEssential to every healthy church is a biblical model of leadership. In the New Testament, church leadership is built around a team of elders working together, each bringing his own unique skills and gifts to the cause of shepherding the flock God entrusted to them. However, in many churches today the principle of plurality in leadership is often misunderstood, mistakenly applied, or completely ignored. \n \nDave Harvey encourages church leaders to prioritize plurality for the surprising ways that it helps churches to flourish. This book not only builds a compelling case for churches to adopt and maintain biblical elder pluralities guided by solid leadership but also supplies practical tools to help elders work together for transformation. \n \n \n \n \nAuthor: \n \n \n \n \n \nDave Harvey (DMin, Westminster Theological Seminary) is the president of Great Commission Collective, a church-planting ministry. Dave pastored for thirty-three years, founded AmICalled.com, and travels widely across networks and denominations as a popular conference speaker. He is the author of When Sinners Say “I Do”; I Still Do!; Am I Called?; and Rescuing Ambition; and coauthor of Letting Go. Dave and his wife, Kimm, live in southwest Florida. He also writes at RevDaveHarvey.com, and you can follow him on Twitter. \n \n \n \n \n \n \nTable of Contents \n \n \n \nForeword by Sam Storms \n \nIntroduction: Why a Book on Plurality? \n \nPart 1: Building a Plurality \nChapter 1: A Plurality Primer \nChapter 2: The Case for a “First among Equals” \nChapter 3: Dressing for Leadership Storms: Five Hats Senior Pastors Wear \nChapter 4: Counterfeit Pluralities \n \nPart 2: Thriving as a Plurality \nChapter 5: Building a Culture of Care and Accountability \nChapter 6: Acknowledging and Sharing Power \nChapter 7: The Plurality Tune-Up \nChapter 8: The Joy-Boosting Delight of Shared Ministry \n \nAppendix 1: Elders, Care for Your Senior Pastor \nAppendix 2: Your Wife Is Not Your Plurality: How Much Should a Pastor Tell His Wife? \nAppendix 3: What’s the Best Way for a Pastor to Negotiate His Salary? \nAppendix 4: Term Limits for Elders? (Jeff Robinson) \n \n \n \nEndorsements \n \n \n \n“In his concern to promote healthy churches and healthy pastors, Dave Harvey ensures that we understand leadership plurality and have a healthy, functioning team of elders in the local church. I’m not aware of another book that deals with this topic. The Plurality Principle is very practical and very helpful!” \nTim Challies, blogger, Challies.com \n \n“Dave Harvey gives us another fantastic book. The Plurality Principle is enjoyable, biblical, and memorable. The fact that it is a quick read makes it all the more useful.” \nMatt Perman, author, What’s Best Next \n \n“God’s design for the church has always been a plurality of elders—but that doesn’t mean plurality is easy. Dave Harvey knows this, and he has provided this straightforward guide to help you cultivate effective plurality in leadership.” \nTimothy Paul Jones, author, Family Ministry Field Guide; C. Edwin Gheens Professor of Christian Family Ministry, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary \n \n“It is one thing to believe in the necessity of a plurality of elders but quite another to understand what that means! Dave Harvey does an excellent job of explaining it. He has put into words the reality I have wanted to share with fellow pastors as the dean of a church-based seminary—the type of fellowship that should exist within a team of elders. I thank God for this precious brother and the light he sheds on our path.” \nFrançois Turcotte, President and Dean, The Evangelical Baptist Seminary of Quebec \n \n“Every once in a while you encounter a book you wish you’d read years earlier. Having inherited elder teams in three different churches, I can testify that Dave Harvey’s book would have been gold during those transitions. If you are a young pastor, save yourself the heartache of confusion and conflict. If you are a seasoned leader, it could be time for a biblical tune-up. The health of your church, your leaders, and your own soul might just depend on it.” \nDaniel Henderson, Founder and President, Strategic Renewal; Global Director, The 6:4 Fellowship; author, Old Paths, New Power \n \n“Church leadership is the most perilous job out there, needing nothing short of the on-the-ground, forged-by-fire wisdom Harvey offers. From how elders can care for pastors to how elders and pastors can function together in practical, flock-sensitive, and Christ-honoring ways, this book guides elder teams through one of the most important needs they face: how church leadership teams can thrive in the complex challenges of real people, widely varying contexts, and treacherously subtle dangers.” \nJ. Alasdair Groves, Executive Director, Christian Counseling & Educational Foundation; coauthor, Untangling Emotions \n \n“Dave Harvey has done a great service for all who love the local church and have been called by God into leadership. He carefully explains why God calls local churches to be overseen by a plurality of leaders. And he steers us around the reefs and barriers that have left some church boards shipwrecked and their churches torn in pieces. By God’s grace, healthy plurality in leadership not only is possible but can be glorious!” \nBob Lepine, Cohost, FamilyLife Today; Teaching Pastor, Redeemer Community Church, Little Rock, Arkansas \n \n“The Plurality Principle will be of great help to any church eldership seeking to lead and care for the people entrusted to them. Dave Harvey has zeroed in on the key principles and has put very useful feet to them. This book will serve our eldering deliberations in the years ahead.” \nMike Bullmore, Senior Pastor, CrossWay Community Church, Bristol, Wisconsin \n \n“Being a pastor or elder is no small task. That’s why I’ve found Dave Harvey’s book so helpful. With a compelling vision and clear manner, Harvey makes the practice of developing a healthy plurality of elders both understandable and desirable. If you are planting or leading a local church and you want to see a healthy church last far beyond your leadership, pick up and implement this book. It may be the most humbling thing you will ever do, but also the strongest way you will ever lead.” \nJeremy Writebol, Lead Campus Pastor, Woodside Bible Church, Plymouth, Michigan \n \n \n
