The New Pastor's Handbook: Help and Encouragement for the First Years of Ministry (Helopoulos)

Start Your Ministry Off Strong – And Smart

If you’re like most new pastors, you will suddenly realize in your first years of ministry that you are not prepared for many of the practical aspects of your calling. The New Pastor’s Handbook is your guide to navigating these unfamiliar waters. With his hard-won wisdom, pastor Jason Helopoulos comes alongside you as a trusted friend and mentor to help and encourage you through your first year of ministry. He’ll show you how to:  

• which ministry role most suits them
• how to start out strong at a new church
• persevering during difficult seasons of ministry
• leading meetings and delegating tasks
• safeguarding their family
• fighting discouragement, pastor envy, and a lack of contentment
• navigating special ministry needs, such as hospitals, weddings, and funerals
• and much more

Author 

Jason Helopoulos (ThM, Dallas Theological Seminary) is associate pastor at University Reformed Church in East Lansing, Michigan. Ordained in the Presbyterian Church in America, he has pastored three churches and speaks at conferences and retreats. A contributor to the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals' Christward Collective blog, Helopoulos also blogs for the Gospel Coalition and is the author of A Neglected Grace. He lives in Lansing, Michigan.

Endorsements 

"I wish I could have read this book when I was just starting out in ministry. This personal, practical volume will serve as a valuable guide for many young pastors, and quite a few older ones too." -- Kevin DeYoung, senior pastor of University Reformed Church; author of Crazy Busy: A (Mercifully) Short Book about a (Really) Big Problem

"The joys of pastoral ministry are enormous, but so are the challenges. Helopoulos's work is a welcome guide for new pastors as they confront the many difficult issues new pastors regularly face." -- R. Albert Mohler Jr., president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary

"Where was this book when I was first ordained? Ultrapractical and stuffed full of timeless wisdom, this is a book I will recommend often and reread regularly." -- Tim Challies, author of The Next Story; pastor of Grace Fellowship Church

"I wish The New Pastor's Handbook had been available when I was starting out. Thirty-nine years on, it is a helpful reminder to do the basics. I commend it enthusiastically."--Alistair Begg, senior pastor of Parkside Church 

"Finally, a practical and thorough guide for real pastors in the trenches of real ministry. This book tells you what they don't tell you in seminary. I have been in some form of ministry for twenty years now, and this is precisely the sort of book I could have used at the outset of my service to the church. Pastor Helopoulos shows us how we are to be not only shepherds of God's flock but also, more fundamentally, shepherds of our own hearts and homes. I want to get this into the hands of every seminary student and every new pastor to the end that Jesus Christ might be glorified in our love and care of his bride."--Burk Parsons, copastor of Saint Andrew's Chapel; editor of Tabletalk magazine