Necessary Endings
By Henry Cloud
Bestselling author Tom Rath says it well. “This book will challenge you to put a stop to things that have been getting in your way for a long time.”
Reading Necessary Endings with church eyes puts a whole new spin on the idea of stopping ministries that are not working. Dr. Henry Cloud writes about the employees, businesses (translated “ministries in the church”), and relationships that all of us have to give up in order to move forward.
The title of the first chapter says it all, “Endings: The Good Cannot Begin Until the Bad Ends.” In the church world it is tough to swallow that some of our great ministries of the past may not be effective today. Can we end them in order to reach for better ministries? On paper, the answer is yes. In reality, it is very tough to do.
Dr. Cloud does an outstanding job addressing the pruning process. He writes openly and frankly about resistance, and how to tackle the internal and external barriers to change. How about learning how to have the conversation with leaders when a ministry needs to end—and have that conversation go well?
Unless a church has an unlimited supply of money, taking inventory of what is depleting its resources is critical in determining which ministries should end and which can go forward.
The front jacket cover notes, “Necessary Endings describes how to identify which employees, projects, activities, and relationships are worth nurturing and which are not. Knowing when and how to let go when something or someone isn’t working is essential for happiness and success. Necessary Endings gives readers the tools they need to say good-bye and move on.”
