Books are one of the primary tools of the pastor and leader. We are people of one Book, the Bible, it is true. And that one Book must not be assumed. But in addition to the Bible, we also are readers, digesters and responders to other books.

“The 2012 Leadership Book Awards,” Leadership Journal (Winter 2013), was recently published.

Under the category “The Leader's Inner Life,” the book recognized as the “Best of the Best” was Lee Eclov’s, Pastoral Graces: Reflections on the Care of Souls (Chicago: Moody, 2012). Eclov has been a part of the EFCA literally from birth! He has faithfully served as a pastor in the EFCA for many years, presently serving as Sr. Pastor at Village Church of Lincolnshire, Lake Forest IL.

Of this book Mark Galli writes, "Oh, my, a book on the pastorate that is about, well, pastoring, shepherding! It's a rare breed in our ambitious and managerial age. But it's a biblical breed who knows that the minister is, from first to last, a minister of God's grace.”

In the category of “The Leader's Outer Life,” the book that received the “Best of The Best” nod was Tim Keller’s, Center Church: Doing Balanced, Gospel-Centered Ministry in Your City (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2012).

David Fitch summarizes this book as follows: "This book is thorough in providing an overview of the issues faced by the mission-focused church. It covers all the challenges yet does so in a way quickly grasped and applied."