Review: The Disconnect by Doug Franklin

In churches there's been a frequent dynamic in which the senior pastor of the church and the youth pastor of the church don't see eye to eye on many things. It's troubling because it's one of the primary reasons many youth pastors don't stay long at a church before moving on to the next unhealthy senior pastor/youth pastor relationship. If you're a youth pastor in this position, you may wonder if there's any hope for a good relationship and why your greatest hopes and dreams for ministry are being stifled. If you're a senior pastor in this position, you may be at your wits end of not understanding why every youth pastor does what he does and why it feels like he's trying to usurp your authority. Because it's a tension I've seen and experienced, I was excited to see that Doug Franklin wrote a book called THE DISCONNECT: BRIDGING THE YOUTH PASTOR AND SENIOR PASTOR GAP.

Franklin covers five foundational areas that will improve any Youth Pastor/Senior Pastor relationship if both are intentional about putting the books concepts into practice. The book covers:
• Communication
• Understanding each other's core values
• Money perceptions
• Aligning expectations
• Having a shared mission

The idea of understanding the core values that drive each other's decisions and actions alone would improve the relationship tremendously.

The book is actually conveniently divided in half--one half for youth pastors and one half for senior pastors. They cover the same material from the two different perspectives, and it would be a helpful idea for a youth pastor and senior pastor to go through the book at the same time. The book even includes exercises at the end of each chapter for the youth pastor and senior pastor to go through together.

THE DISCONNECT is a great and timely resource to help youth pastors and senior pastors understand each other's point of view and build healthy mutually beneficial relationships that will make ministry more of a joy than a tug of war.

I received this book for free for review from Group Publishing.