This manual was created for Christian pastors and laity. The purpose of the authors is singular: publish a manual that can be used by African-American preachers and church leaders of every background and every educational level. The manual is the only one of its kind. It provides a list of more than 50 entities and organizations that can be called upon to help pastors and lay leaders carry out effective ministry. An extensive list of helpful books is also included. Users will find the manual easy to read, easy to follow, and easy to implement. It will enable ministers and lay leaders to save time on research, organize their presentations, and provide internal and external ministry. The book also contains important advice on how to handle internal church crises and external emergencies, press and media inquiries, and compliance with applicable governmental laws, rules, and regulations. Information on how to develop and utilize standard protocols for Church operations is also included. The manual covers many of the major ceremonies, rituals, and practices of the 21st-century Christian Church. It addresses traditional and non-traditional issues faced by the modern Church, including, but not limited to, church administration, the work of twenty-first-century deacons and trustees, bi-vocational pastoring, rape trauma, suicide, substance abuse disorders, the prison-industrial complex, and so much more. In addition to providing guidance on many non-traditional issues, the manual includes step-by-step instructions for baptisms, weddings, funerals, infant dedications, and ordinations. It also includes much-needed information regarding the training of associate ministers and other church leaders. This is a desk reference. However, wherever they are, pastors and lay leaders can download the manual to their tablets, for ease of use. The manual can be used by lay leaders in every department of the Church and can be used by a variety of denominations. Further, it meets the holistic needs of the modern pastor who is faced with a myriad of tasks, parishioners needs, and societal concerns. Readers who purchase the hard-copy of the book can download several, extremely helpful, full-sized forms that are only in the tablet/e-book version. Go to http: //HowToDoMinistry.com to download the forms.
WILLIE DWAYNE FRANCOIS III serves as the Senior Pastor of Mount Zion Baptist Church of Pleasantville, NJ. He is a graduate of Morehouse College and Harvard Divinity School. Francois has written for the Christian Century and Religion Dispatches, to enumerate a few. Francois also serves as chair of the Theological Advisory Group of the Black Church Center for Justice and Equality. His pastoral activism is organized around racial and economic justice and criminal justice reform. MARTHA SIMMONS has served in ministry for more than 30 years. She has written and or published more material about African American preaching than any person in history. She served as editor and later co-owner of the African American Pulpit Journal. She is the creator of the 220,000 page African American Online Lectionary. In 2010, she co-edited the 960-page anthology Preaching with Sacred Fire: African American Sermons from 1750 to the Present (W.W. Norton Publishers). This is the first African American preaching anthology. In 2012, she published Doing the Deed: The Mechanics of 21st Century Preaching. In addition to publishing and teaching preaching, since 2000, Simmons has focused on mentoring clergy, especially millennials and women of color.
