Sustaining Leadership Paul Swann (Bible Reading Fellowship, July 2018) 160pps, RRP £8.99
I wish I had read this book when I was in my 20s. The subtitle was something I badly needed to hear and understand; ‘You are more important than your ministry’. I have already bought several copies to give to leaders I journey alongside, which probably tells you what I think of it more than I can express in this review.
Paul Swann is an Anglican minister who served in two busy, growing parishes. In 2008, he retired early and spent four years in the wilderness of total fatigue. He describes this experience with no-drama honesty. But this is no look-at-me biography where the writer indulges in emotional striptease. Instead he offers a pilgrim’s progress of thoughtful reflection on how his personal disintegration led to a slow and steady reintegration, based on a fresh understanding of what God was calling him to be.
That word ‘fresh’ is important, as this is a book that refreshes. One of the endorsements on the cover warns against rushing to read the contents, and it’s a wise caution. I forced myself to a slower pace and took time to reflect, section by section. This led me to consider some of the end of chapter questions I often skim-read, and it opened the way for some honest personal evaluation and serious prayer.
Swann covers many practical challenges, including self care, boundaries and balance. But the kernel of truth that runs throughout his ministry arises from what we are in Christ more than what we do. As someone who lives with to-do lists, I rediscovered the value of the to-be list. The primacy of being was my big takeaway from this valuable volume.
The book is packed with quotes (some of crown jewel quality) and practical suggestions on how to sustain servant leadership within helter-skelter church programmes.
Paul Swann writes out of what must have been a dark and lonely journey. But he emerged fitter, wiser and with a greater sense of what it means to be a servant of the Lord. It’s a book I intend to return to as a reminder of what healthy ministry should always look like.
Reviewed by Ian Coffey, a Baptist minister; Vice Principal (Strategy) and Director of Leadership Training at Moorlands College
