"Letters To Timothy"

I love to read. But I hate being made to read. This is one of the biggest frustrations I have with school. It involves a lot of reading that I don't want to do. I don't know why I am like this, but I very rarely get excited about buying books for class knowing that I am going to have to read all of them. "Letters To Timothy: A Handbook For Pastors," by John R. Bisagno is one of those books. I read it several years ago for a class I had on pastoral ministry and though I read it, I didn't get that much into it.

However, I have since gone back and reread Bisagno's book and am grateful that I have. Have you ever wanted a simple manual on how to be a pastor? Here is the one book you need. Bisagno covers it all: funerals, visitation, preaching, praying, leadership, forming committee's, dealing with search committees, weddings, growth, building projects, budgets, newsletters, etc. This is a simple to understand guide to how to be a pastor.

Bisagno has about 50 years of experience in pastoral ministry, and it shows. Through the pages, the reader knows that he is getting reality. There is no fakeness, going through the motions here. Rather, Bisagno earnestly desires to help the reader become the best pastor as possible. Throughout the book, he provides the readers with outlines, charts, illustrations, examples, etc. He gives an order of service for funerals and weddings, what to do during visitation, etc.

One of the things I liked about this book was his discussion on keeping a balanced daily scheduled. Whenever I become a pastor, I intend on trying to follow the same schedule he used. It is about a 11-13 hour day, and includes 3 hours of study with several hours of visitation/ministry.

For anyone thinking about becoming a pastor or is wanting to know more about how to go about fulfilling their ministry, this is an excellent source. I highly recommend this book.