Seminary Reflections: Read any good books lately?
The following is cross-posted from my column at Presbyterian Bloggers.
So what have you been reading lately?
I’ve been reading God’s Potters: Pastoral Leadership and the Shaping of Congregations by Jackson W. Carroll for my Church Leadership and Administration class. It’s a very interesting read, mostly communicating the results and reflecting upon the massive Pew and Pulpit study of US pastors. I found one chart particularly interesting.
Most-Read Authors in the Mainline Protestant Tradition
(as reported by what pastors deemed the “three authors they most often read”)
1. Henri J.M. Nouwen
2. William Willimon
3. Frederick Buechner
4. Max Lucado
5. Eugene Peterson
6. S. Lewis
7. Marcus Borg
8. Lyle Schaller
9. Philip Yancey
10. Walter Bruggemann
A few things jump out. First, of course, there are no women on the list (though Barbara Brown Taylor just barely missed it). Second, most of these authors write about ministry or spirituality rather than heavy theology. Third, many of them are getting on in years — which makes sense regarding the list — but it also begs the question: who will be on the list ten or twenty years down the road? This all got me to thinking about the many books I’ve read at Columbia Seminary. Curiously, of those who made the Pew and Pulpit list, I think I’ve only been assigned Bruggemann and Borg to read for class — and both of those very small pieces, not whole books. So, it looks like there’s a rather large difference in what I read in seminary and what I may read as a pastor (curiously, Carroll reports the Roman Catholic priests surveyed read much more theology than protestants).
I guess it makes sense that preparing for ministry requires a different reading list than doing ministry, but I wouldn’t have predicted such a clear shift. In fact, I think a lot of pastors out there would really love to read what we’re reading in Columbia classes, they just don’t for whatever reason or another.
So here, in no particular order, are the top ten books I’ve read for class at Columbia Seminary:
* Chuck Campbell, “The Word Before the Powers”
* Wendy Farley, “The Wounding and Healing of Desire”
* Justo Gonzalez, “The Changing Shape of Church History”
* David Lose, “Confessing Jesus Christ: Preaching in a Postmodern World”
* Shirley Guthrie, “Christian Doctrine”
* Daniel Migliore, “Faith Seeking Understanding”
* Charlie Cousar, “Galatians”
* Pauw and Jones, “Feminist and Womanist Essays in Reformed Dogmatics”
* Marilyn Robinson, “Gilead”
* Leif Enger, “Peace Like a River”
Boy, that was a tough exercise! I’m already feeling bad for all the great books I left out. Man, there’s been a lot of good ones (and I really do love Calvin, the Book of Order, and Book of Common Worship, but I count them as given).
So, what’s your favorite book from seminary, or your favorite author now? Of if you’re not a pastor — bless you — and, please share your favs as well.
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I don’t have the time to read as much these days with the baby but I’ve been listening to a few great books:
1. Beth Moore: A heart like his.
2. Howard Dayton: Your Money Map
Anything by C.S.Lewis, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and Isaac Asimov.
I’m reading Same Kind of Different As Me by Ron Hall, Denver Moore, and Lynn Vincent.
* Pauw and Jones, “Feminist and Womanist Essays in Reformed Dogmatics”
is definitely my number one. my copy has so many postits and marginal notes.
i also loved “preaching” by craddock, “god pain and evil” by buttrick, “honoring the body” by paulsell (although that was on my own but every lecture by her was also the best thing i’d ever heard), and every book we read for harvey cox’s fundamentalism class.
Good to see a Luther prof on your list! I also found it intriguing (neither good nor bad) to see two novels made it. Here were a few of my favorite books from seminary:
*Abraham Joshua Heschel “The Prophets”
*Fred Craddock “Preaching”
*Douglas John Hall “The Cross in our Context”
Thanks, folks. Yeah, Craddock is definitely on my other list. I haven’t read the Douglas John Hall but have heard good things about it. Now all I need is more time…
I’m currently reading (forcing myself to read) “A Life of John Calvin” by Alister McGrath to get in the birthday spirit.
One of the favorite parts of working with seminary interns was asking them to share with me their syllabi.
And times have changed – I can’t tell you how many Brueggemann books we read!
I’m reading Mavericks at Work: Why the Most Original Midns in Business Win. The authors champion open sourcing in strategy and leadership — the more smart people you can persuade the work on a problem the more likely it is to get solved. This book is reshaping my approach to worship planning, away from a clergy-centered, closed system to a collaborative process, as broad ownership can provide creativity, variety and freshness. We want to attract the best ideas from the most people, wherever those people might be. It’s also opening me up to looking all over and being agnostic to where ideas comes from, instead of reading the usual mainline authors. As my congregation re-imagines its worship space, for example, I’m more inclined to learn from Anthropologie, a clothing store that pours its creative resources into building a vibrant store experience, using sight, sound, even smell, to conjure up a sensory experience to captivate and capture the imaginations of customers.
I’d have to say Joy of Sex… but then again I’m always one for liking the picture books and simplified versions of things…
I say let’s get “back to the basics.” Tell your sweet wife hello!