Minister as Entrepreneur: Leading And Growing The Church In An Age Of Rapid Change - Softcover

'The role of entrepreneurs in the Church is shooting up the agenda. Volland argues that entrepreneurs are a gift from God in times of discontinuous change. He supports this with ground-breaking research. His book will help the Church to welcome this very special gift.' --- Michael Moynagh, author of Church for Every Context and Being Church, Doing Life
'This is a book which creates theological, pastoral and missiological capital to build the kingdom. Volland brings his considerable energy, experience and scholarship to challenge models of ministry which have ignored or opposed the gifts of the entrepreneur.' --David Wilkinson, Professor and Principal, St Johns College, Durham University

'What does it mean to be an entrepreneur and how do entrepreneurs function? This book demystifies the term, sets it in a larger theological and sociological context and helps the reader to see why entrepreneurial approaches are healthy and necessary for our mission in the world.' --- Cathy Ross, Tutor in Contextual Theology at Ripon College Cuddesdon, and MA Co-ordinator for Pioneer Leadership Training at the Church Mission Society
'One of the greatest triumphs of the early Christians was the ability to seize hold of existing concepts and words and colonize them in order to communicate the good news. Ministry as entrepreneurial is a twenty-first-century step in the same direction.' --Joel Edwards, Director of Micah Challenge International

'To be a minister is to face the everyday challenge of finding new ways to express the faith, and to refresh the life of the Church. This is the call to be an entrepreneur. Michael Volland sets out the case for the minister as an agent of change and as the one who looks for new ways to do things . . . This is an important and a timely book which will help us to see entrepreneurship as gift of God and a delight for the Church.' --Pete Ward, Professorial Fellow in Ecclesiology and Ethnography, Durham University

A compelling case for an entrepreneurial approach to ministry and mission, exploring its biblical basis and potential benefits. Based on extensive interviews with entrepreneurial ministers from a range of denominations. Draws on examples of 'entrepreneurs' from the Bible and Christian history to help readers imagine how such an approach could work in their own context. Addresses the problems some have with the word 'entrepreneur' and sets out a positive and informed alternative understanding. Full of informative and inspiring case-studies of entrepreneurial ministry in action. Building on his own experiences as a priest and an entrepreneur, Volland argues that the concept of entrepreneurship offers churches a helpful lens through which to view Christian ministry and mission, and an understanding and approach to ministry that is well fitted for the mission task in a rapidly changing world. He shows how an entrepreneurial approach is consistent with understandings of leadership in the major denominations and in the new churches. He also argues that such an approach is consistent both with the nature of God and with human collaboration with God's activity in the world. His conclusions are based on extensive interviews with entrepreneurial ministers (Justin Welby and Steven Croft were among the interviewees), and his findings result in practical suggestions for those seeking to be more entrepreneurial in their ministries as well as in recommendations for strategic change that will encourage sustainable church growth and vitality in the years ahead.