The Team Leader’s Handbook: How to help Christians serve Jesus together by Dave Moore (Matthias Media)

Review by Peter Mayrick

A church leader said to me recently, “My role is not to do all the ministry. My role is to be a teacher and leader, and to equip the members of the church – the body of the church – to do ministry. Why is it that I find myself doing all the ministry and feeling exhausted and feeling like I can’t get everything done?” 

This is a challenge that is replicated again and again across church ministry. My job is to support church leaders – and run workshops on their behalf – to engage their lay leaders in leadership and equip them to lead ministry and discipleship practices.

The Team Leader’s Handbook by Dave Moore is a real blessing. It has a very similar objective and places in the hands of team leaders a well-considered and practical encouragement, guide and explanation of what Christian team leadership could look like. I highly commend it to anyone who wishes to understand or improve the team leadership across their church.  

Many churches have recognised the value of teams in doing ministry and the need to equip their leaders, yet many church leaders have found the equipping part the greatest challenge.

• How do I help lay leaders to understand how the ministry they lead fits into our church purpose and mission?
• How do I help team leaders with secular leadership skills understand what it is to lead in a Christian way?
•  How might I help leaders without any training in leadership to develop some simple skills in leading a team?
•  How can I possibly trust my leaders to model the culture we wish to have at our church?
• Where do I find the time to equip leaders in all the above?

These are common questions that I hear. The handbook is a very helpful resource to assist lay leaders and pastors in wrestling with some of these questions. Of course, a book cannot be the only training, however I believe it could serve as a very healthy partner or complement to ongoing support for leaders in the church.

A few aspects I really appreciate about this book:

1. It is so easy to make church ministry about the task we are leading, losing focus on the purpose of our ministry to support intentional discipleship. The Team Leader’s Handbook makes significant effort to anchor team leadership firstly in discipleship in Christ and is firmly grounded in the Scriptures.

2. Many leaders have been trained in leadership through their roles outside the church but haven’t necessarily considered what it looks like to be a Christian leader. I love that this is a starting point of this handbook.

3. Many competent leaders simply need to understand the purpose of church, how the ministry they lead fits in and what values/behaviours we wish to see in our church culture. The handbook leaves considerable space for this. I appreciate the practical encouragement for leaders to write a “Big Prayer” – a prayer that keeps the purpose of the church and team at the forefront, while maintaining prayerful dependence on God.

4. For those who have never developed team leadership skills outside the church, the handbook helps these people to develop a useful understanding of what team leadership looks like and provides some helpful tips and basic skills to start with. I particularly appreciate the effort the handbook makes to help leaders to understand the important adjustments required when moving from team member to team leader (shifts in what you focus on, when you do the work for ministry (use of time), and in member relationships).

5. Overall, I greatly appreciate the intentional nature of the book – in mission, discipleship, leadership and culture. 

In addition to this, I applaud Dave Moore for his restraint. When it comes to practical ministry it is so easy to encourage people to “do what I do” and provide a detailed approach to “my method of ministry” to copy. I think the author has worked hard to provide big picture ideas and principles, general and specific guidance and experience, while leaving space to explore and apply team leadership to the many different (and valid) models of living out church ministry in a practical way.

I commend church leaders to encourage those they trust in team leadership to read this book as a terrific complement to their existing training and equipping. One church leader has said to me, “This book should become the 2025 book Christian book of the year”. He has bought 20 copies of the handbook for all his team leaders to read. I’d say that this is not a bad idea!

Thank you, Dave Moore, for committing the wisdom you have learned over many years into this book and making it accessible for these very important people in church ministry.

Peter Mayrick has been a consultant with Moore College’s Centre for Ministry Development since 2012.