The author lives in Colorado USA and has written a number of books on matters related to church leadership, elders and deacons. If I mention some of the titles you can get an idea of the concerns of his heart. “The New Testament Deacon: The churches ministry of Mercy, Meetings That Work, Agape Leadership, Men and Women: Equal yet Different, Leading with Love, and The Hospitality Commands.” All of these are important matters and Strauch deals with them from a thoroughly Biblical standpoint and usually, very graciously too. This book is far from idealistic; it is a call to an insightful view of church leadership as patterned in the New Testament. These writings are not aimed at scholars, but are pitched in such a way that they can be read by all. The gulf between the mould shown here and what is practiced by the bulk of churches is very large and the way back to a more God ordained way would not be easy. There are expositors and commentators that do not believe that there is any single pattern practiced and advocated in the New Testament. Strauch disagrees with this strongly and shows that there is a general pattern easily distinguished and chapter headings such as Biblical Eldership Defined as pastoral leadership, shared leadership, Male leadership, Qualified leadership and Servant leadership all indicate the thrust and direction taken. The author shows that Pastoral Leadership undertaken by a number of elders is consistently the New Testament pattern, that it also encourages the establishment and growth of the style of local church formed in New Testament days and the plurality of leaders promotes protection and sanctification of the leaders themselves. There is a guide available with this book; this would assist in the event it is being used as a study aid for groups. Those seeking a thoughtfully written resource to use in the consideration of this important subject are recommended to get a hold of this book.
