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Reviewed by Dan Dick, Director of Connectional Ministries for the Wisconsin Annual Conference Listen for God’s Leading: A Workbook for Corporate Spiritual Discernment, by Valerie K. Isenhower and Judith A. Todd Upper Room Books, 2009 Listen for God’s Leading raises the all-important question in our modern/post-modern church: what role does God play in the ministry we perform? For three generations, mainline and independent churches have adopted more and more secular corporate business practices to use to run the church. From Robert’s Rules of Order to Total Quality Management to Management by Objectives and on and on, the business world has subtly, but powerfully entered the leadership sphere of the Christian church. This is not all bad. Isenhower and Todd employ a very rigid and prescriptive model themselves for the outline of their working process. Their book is a very rational, organized, “left-brain” approach to a deeply spiritual process. But it is also an attempt to bring God, Jesus the Christ, and the Holy Spirit back into the core of congregational decision-making – something we desperately need in our churches today. The work of the church is fundamentally spiritual work – the church at its best functions as Christ’s body in the world. It exists to serve and execute God’s will. It cannot do this effectively, however, if it does not focus on discerning and understanding what God’s will is. Churches can be very busy, doing much good work, but they are not necessarily doing God’s work if God is not part of the thinking, learning, planning, and leading processes. Prayer, listening, meditation, reflection, discussion, differentiating, dreaming, framing and reframing are all a part of spiritual leadership. Understanding the guiding values of a community, and the driving passions, hopes, ambitions, and desires of individuals within the community are also important. A critical function of congregational leadership is to align the vision, values and passions of the congregation with the guiding mission of the church, grounded in God’s will. Such leadership work takes time, commitment, energy, and development. It doesn’t happen naturally, and it doesn’t happen by accident. To do it well requires dedication, time, focus, and a willingness to set aside “lesser” things. Our spiritual center cannot be maintained by tagging on a five minute devotional and prayer to the “real” work of the church. We need something more. Isenhower and Todd point to this “something more.” Listen for God’s Leading calls not for the adoption of a set of practices or processes, but for a radical change of culture. Discernment is not simply a practice to employ, but a worldview – a way of life. It lays a foundation for an entirely different way of being and leading church. It reframes the entire function of church leadership into “worshipful work.” It places spiritual practice and discipline at the core of the “business” of the church. It takes seriously the concept that the church is God’s and that God might have something to say about who we are, what we do, the way we do it, and the difference we make. The book is filled with helpful exercises, practices, and group processes to help congregational leaders experience a new way of guiding the church. The book resembles a “spiritual fitness” manual, and drawing upon the fitness metaphor, successful integration of discernment into the life of the congregation requires a special diet, regular exercise, deep commitment, and communal support. There is no “quick-fix” in this book. To do it well will require the development of “spiritual muscles.” The exercises and practices are not one time events, but key components to a new kind of structure, method, and practice of leadership. If there is a weakness to the book it is an odd “non-spiritual, non-historical” approach to a deeply spiritual practice. The authors do a nice job of exploring the biblical-historical fullness of discernment, but then choose to focus on only one aspect. There is virtually no acknowledgement or analysis of “discernment” as a spiritual gift, or the role of discernment in the church through the centuries. “Discernment” is a term as vague and multi-faceted as “discipleship” or “stewardship,” meaning many different things, and being practiced many different ways in widely diverse settings, times, cultures, and places. Discernment isn’t a practice so much as one aspect of healthy Christian community. The suggestion that congregations should create “discernment teams” flies in the face of the spontaneous, communal, ubiquitous, and essential nature of discernment by definition. It is like setting a time for discernment to happen – not shaping our practices to fit God’s time, but forcing the Holy Spirit to support our structures and processes. The healthiest congregations that I am aware of that practice discernment do so congregationally, not through a designated “team.” The people of God discern together rather than having a small group do it for them. These minor criticisms aside, this book offers a helpful word of grace and guidance to modern Christian congregations so caught up in the busyness and activity of ministry that they have little time left over for God. 
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