The Art of Kubernesis (1 Corinthians 12

Those who chair church boards deserve our prayers and respect. Often with little preparation or experience, they step up to lead the primary spiritual leadership team within a local congregation. When they need help, they have to search long and hard to find resources that respond to their specific questions and concerns. The Art of Kubernesis (1 Corinthians 12:28): Leading as the Church Board Chairperson fills this gap. It takes the best ideas about chairing nonprofit boards being discussed today and carefully evaluates them. Those ideas that are compatible with biblical values and the unique nature of a church congregation contribute to this ""map"" for church board chairpersons. Although its primary frame of reference is congregational polity, the principles discussed can help anyone who chairs a faith-based nonprofit board.


""Dr. Larry Perkins has studied board governance for decades as he worked for nonprofit boards, chaired church boards, and taught board best practices. He brings biblical expertise, theological understanding, board experience, and a practical knowledge to the subject of board governance. Through his church board chairperson manual, Dr. Perkins has provided a valuable service to the church as he applies real-life and real-time church experience to the often mysterious workings of successful church board leadership.""
--David Horita, Regional Director of the Fellowship of Evangelical Baptist Churches in British Columbia and the Yukon

""If you are keen to be an effective board chairperson you need this resource. . . . The manual is full of useful tools, practical wisdom, and required reading for those assuming the chairperson role as well as those who are already in it.""
--Larry Nelson, President, Bayshore Consulting

""Those who lead a church board need clear guidance to provide direction that reflects biblical integrity and strategic fidelity. In this book, Dr. Perkins reveals a firm grasp on both. As an eminent New Testament scholar, his guidance is rooted in biblical reliability. But, even more, as a faithful member of his church he has earned the right to speak of board leadership having served as a board chair with excellence.""
--Lyle Schrag, Heart for Ministry Consultation Services

""This is different from any other book on church boards I have read. Dr. Perkins, a renowned biblical scholar, lays a robust, biblical foundation for understanding church leadership. . . . This manual not only answers one's most pressing questions about board practice, but also addresses deeper matters that have the potential to undermine or greatly enhance a board's long-term effectiveness.""
--Randy Wollf, Associate Professor of Leadership Studies and Practical Theology, Director of the ACTS World Campus at ACTS Seminaries


Larry J. Perkins is president emeritus of Northwest Baptist Seminary (Langley, Canada) and professor emeritus of biblical studies at Northwest Baptist Seminary and the Associated Canadian Theological Schools of Trinity Western University. He is the author of The Pastoral Letters: A Handbook on the Greek Text and contributed the translation of Exodus to A New English Translation of the Septuagint.