SPRINGFIELD, Missouri – Chris McGough, assistant professor of Youth Ministries in the Theology and Global Church Ministries Department at Evangel University, recently published a book designed to assist current and future church and ministry leaders.
“Soliloquy No. 7: Addressing Hidden Influences That Quietly Erode Church Leaders” pulls from the wisdom of Solomon, ancient king of Israel, and touches on five specific areas that require vigilance on behalf of ministry leaders.
“The lessons shared within this book are intended to help pastors identify key elements of leadership that, if ignored, can quietly erode the effectiveness of their lives and ministries over time,” said McGough.
The book examines the seventh of Solomon’s ten soliloquies, which is found in Proverbs 4:20-27. Captured within this soliloquy are five life-giving lessons to enhance ministry leaders’ effectiveness. To help clarify thinking, within each chapter McGough addresses a cognitive bias that could impair a church leaders’ judgement.
“In the day and age of people fighting to be right, McGough helps church leaders think.” said Chris Pruett, director of children’s ministries for the Minnesota District Council of the Assemblies of God. “This book helped reinforce some of my ministry methodologies while also causing me to question others that may not be effective.”
Readers are asked to consider what it means to define and achieve success in ministry, how to be missionally and culturally relevant, make disciples and build ministries, respond to difficult people, situations, and seasons of ministry, and when to go with the flow or go against the grain.
“McGough challenges readers to examine the sources through which current church ministry is influenced,” said Rev. Gene Brown, retired Assemblies of God pastor. “Rather than telling the reader how, the reader is challenged to ask ‘why?’”
McGough’s Motivation
“My dad was an ordained Assemblies of God minister and was who I turned to for advice, encouraging words, wisdom, and discipline,” McGough said.
After his father’s passing in 2015, McGough felt the absence of that pastoral support.
“The thought occurred to me that there are many people preparing for ministry or who are already in ministry that don’t have support. That was the catalyst for me to write this book.”
The book is an expansion of the content that McGough teaches in the classroom.
“The students that we invest in at Evangel are future church leaders. I wanted my book to serve as a guide so that when they look for help to navigate difficult seasons of ministry, they have a resource available.”
McGough’s book is available for order through his website, soliloquynumberseven.com, and a variety of online retailers.
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Evangel University, with the Assemblies of God Theological Seminary (AGTS), is a comprehensive Christian university committed to excellence in educating and equipping students to serve the Church and society globally. Evangel and AGTS serve more than 2,200 students from all 50 states and numerous foreign countries, offering 70 undergraduate majors and 19 master and doctoral degrees.