Effective leadership is vital for the health and welfare of the church of Jesus Christ. A local assembly of believers cannot function in a God-honouring manner unless it has a godly and caring leadership. When church leaders do their work well, the church will be well. The health of a congregation depends upon its leaders. Since one of the essential duties of pastors or church leaders is to equip ‘the saints for the work of ministry’, this involves, of necessity, the training and equipping of future church leaders.

This book is designed to ‘train the trainers’ — that is, to equip present and future church leaders for their God-given task. It is not intended as a substitute for the kind of theological training offered by Bible colleges, but deals with practical issues of church life, in a living church setting, on which it is rarely possible for theological colleges to provide specific guidance. It is likely to be especially useful for spiritually mature men, well grounded in Christian doctrine, who have not attended a theological college, yet to whom the pastoral oversight of a local body of believers has been committed.


Gareth Crossley holds a doctorate in theology from the university of Birmingham, a master’s degree in counselling from the University of Keele and a postgraduate degree in youth work from the University of Manchester. He has been a minister of the gospel in England for over forty years, serving in Leicester, Ripon/Harrogate and Wolverhampton. He is currently engaged in church-planting in Derbyshire. He is also involved in training church workers in the Middle East, Asia and Africa.

'The primary purpose of this book is to train elders. It does not seek to supplant theological training, but to deal with 'practical issues of church life, in a living church setting...'
Review in the British Church Newspaper, 11th April 2008