{"id":16499,"date":"2023-07-24T12:00:13","date_gmt":"2023-07-24T17:00:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/?p=16499"},"modified":"2023-06-29T13:42:28","modified_gmt":"2023-06-29T18:42:28","slug":"book-recs-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/book-recs-1\/","title":{"rendered":"Books Every Pastor Should Read"},"content":{"rendered":"

“What are some books that every pastor should read?”<\/em><\/h3>\n

PTS faculty were asked this question in spring 2023, resulting in a very long list of recommendations. Rather than list specific titles, Directors\u2019 Bicentennial Professor of Theology the Rev. Dr. Edwin Chr. van Driel<\/a> suggests nine categories of books for pastors to consider. He says:<\/p>\n

\u201c’Every pastor’ is quite a wide category. It is hard to think in such universal terms for something that is so context-dependent as ministry. For that reason, I\u2019m going to cheat in two ways. One, I will read ‘every pastor’ as ‘every pastor that is educated at a seminary like ours and serving in a North American context.’ And two, I am going to recommend categories rather than single titles.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

With this in mind, Dr. van Driel recommends that every pastor read books about:<\/h3>\n

Pastoral Ministry<\/h4>\n
    \n
  • Books that help you think about ministry as, first of all, Jesus\u2019 job rather than yours. Fresh out of seminary you may read lots of books about \u201cthings they didn\u2019t teach me in seminary\u201d: how to catechize the youth, lead a church council meeting, do a funeral. After the first year or so you realize that doing all these things well does not prevent your church from getting into conflicts, failing to grow, or losing its traditional place in the culture. So you\u2019ll start reading books on how to deal with that. A few years in, the burden of ecclesial survival rests on your shoulders. Then it is good to read some books to remind you that the church already has a Savior, and that your ministry is always embedded in what Jesus already is doing. Dig up some old books by former PTS professors Andrew Purves or Craig Barnes. Find contemporary voices that continue that tradition of reflection on the pastoral call. You\u2019ll need it.<\/li>\n
  • A pastoral autobiography that reflects the context in which one serves. Do you serve a small country church? Read Richard Lischer\u2019s Open Secrets. <\/em>Do you serve in an urban environment? Read Heidi Neumark\u2019s Breathing Space. <\/em>Serving in the suburbs? Read Eugene Peterson\u2019s The Pastor.<\/em><\/li>\n
  • An honest book about death. Read Nick Wolterstorff\u2019s Lament for a Son<\/em>, Richard Lischer\u2019s Stations of the Heart<\/em>, or Kate Bowler\u2019s No Cure for Being Human.<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    Theology<\/h4>\n
      \n
    • A one- or two-volume systematic theology in one\u2019s own theological tradition. Hopefully in seminary you learned the grammar of Christian doctrine. Without being tribal about it, as a pastor you need to be fluent in the theological language your people have developed using that grammar. So if you are Methodist, study Geoffrey Wainwright\u2019s Doxology. <\/em>If you are Lutheran, read Braaten and Jenson\u2019s Christian Dogmatics <\/em>or the work of Ian McFarland. And so on. Your seminary theology professors will surely help you find books in other traditions.<\/li>\n
    • A biography of a great theologian. One of the enduring, and frankly, hurtful myths is that theology is an ivory tower exercise (hurtful to the church, that is). Read Eberhard Busch\u2019s Karl Barth<\/em>, Geoffrey Wainwright\u2019s Lesslie Newbigin<\/em>, Bruce Gordon\u2019s Calvin<\/em>, or Peter Brown\u2019s Augustine of Hippo <\/em>and see how great theology is embedded in the drama of life. Be careful: you may end up wanting to read these theologians\u2019 writings as well.<\/li>\n
    • A theological text masquerading as a children\u2019s book. Read The Runaway Bunny. <\/em>Or The Pout-Pout Fish. <\/em>Theological anthropology is everywhere.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

      Culture<\/h4>\n
        \n
      • A big book that helps you reflect deeply on the nature of our culture. These are books that are hard to read in seminary; they demand a knowledge of cultural history that you are still acquiring as you take courses in church history, theology, etc. These books are demanding and need to be read slowly. But they help you take the long view as we negotiate cultural change and tension. Read a book like Charles Taylor\u2019s The Secular Age<\/em>, Louis Dupr\u00e9\u2019s The Enlightenment and the Intellectual Foundations of Modern Culture<\/em>, or Willie Jennings\u2019 The Christian Imagination.<\/em><\/li>\n
      • A sustained theological conversation located in a context that is really different (racially, economically, socially, politically) from yours. It\u2019s commendable when pastors read widely. It\u2019s also commendable when in our deeply polarized society pastors consciously try to read people who are located in very different contexts. But most books, articles, and blog posts are really part of a wider conversation. In order to truly cross boundaries, pick a conversation you\u2019re interested in and commit to following it for the long term.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

        Biblical Studies<\/h4>\n
          \n
        • A new academic Bible commentary every few years. The relentless rhythm of weekly preaching has the danger that pastors approach the Scriptures through the lens of Lectionary readings, preaching texts, and Feasting on the Word. <\/em>It\u2019s easy to lose sight of the fact that every Scripture text is part of a larger narrative that needs to be understood in its own context. Reading a new commentary from cover to cover once every few years will help you to keep honest about that.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

          What would you add to the list? Comment below.<\/em><\/h4>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

          “What are some books that every pastor should read?” PTS faculty were asked this question in spring 2023, resulting in a very long list of recommendations. Rather than list specific titles, Directors\u2019 Bicentennial Professor of Theology the Rev. Dr. Edwin Chr. van Driel suggests nine categories of books for pastors to consider. He says: \u201c’Every…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":16590,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[417],"tags":[],"series":[],"class_list":["post-16499","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-book-recommendations"],"yoast_head":"\r\nBooks Every Pastor Should Read - Pittsburgh Theological Seminary<\/title>\r\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Directors\u2019 Bicentennial Professor of Theology the Rev. 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