When we were missionaries in France and Belgium, we discovered one of Europe’s most wonderful secrets: its book villages. Towns like Montolieu (France), St. Pierre-des-Clages (Switzerland), and our personal favorite, Redu (Belgium) are essentially village-wide bookstores, given over not just to the selling of books, but to their enjoyment, and the encouragement of reading.

Imagine streets where shop after shop is filled with shelves, and even stacks, of books – old and new – for perusal and purchase. Of course, the language of the books for sale is usually the language of the land (i.e., French in France), but if you’re bi-lingual, or looking to learn a second language, visiting these book villages is the perfect way to spend a day: Scan the shelves, skim through the stacks, make your purchases, and then relax with your new book at a sidewalk café. You’ll even find treasures not available on Amazon. On a visit to Redu, in a stack of old books, I was able to purchase a leather-bound 1807 edition French-language prayer book for just 15 Euros. Every store is filled with pearls like this.

Call it a slice of heaven for any missionary or pastor.

As you plan your trip to visit Europe’s book villages, let me jumpstart your heart by shocking your mind:

“Compared with adults who did not read books, those who read books for up to 3 ½ hours each week were 17 percent less likely to die over the 12-year follow-up, while those who read for more than 3 ½ hours weekly were 23 percent less likely to die. Overall, adults who read books survived almost 2 years longer over the 12-year follow-up than non-book readers.”

Becca R. Levy and colleagues, Yale University School of Public Health study, published in
The journal Social Science & Medicine, Volume 164, September 2016, Pages 44-48

Still, and sadly, fifty percent of Americans do not read even one book in a year.  

“The average American adult spends seventeen times as much time watching television as reading (including all reading – magazines, newspapers, etc).” T. David Gordon, Why Johnny Can’t Preach

Thankfully, the reading picture for pastors is much healthier.

The percentage of church pastors who have not read a book in the past year is just 2%. Research reveals that pastors are among the most frequent book buyers and readers in America. On average, each pastor purchases 20 books a year. About 92% of pastors purchase at least one book every month.​ Some of us buy ten to twenty times that amount.  

So, we can rejoice that church pulpits are filled by pastors who are actively seeking to grow by reading.

But what are pastors reading? And how well and deeply are they reading?

Here are 21 ideas for making a pastor’s reading effective.

1. See yourself as a member of the historical Church and its leaders.

From the beginning, the Church and its leaders have been students, copyists, and carriers of the codex.

“At its core, early Christianity was a religion concerned with books.” Andreas Köstenberger and

Michael J. Kruger, The Heresy of Orthodoxy

2. Begin reading regularly and consistently.

To become a wise and well-read reader, you have to begin reading regularly and consistently. Schedule it into your day and week.

“The fight to find time to read is a fight for one’s life.” D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Preaching and Preachers

3. Commit to building a working library.

Not just the latest “must reads,” but reference works, works that require something of you, and so, give you even more in return. Systems like Logos are well worth the investment. Furthermore, don’t only buy to read and study now, but also to reserve for reading later. Bibliophiles understand.

“Sometimes I get a slight – oh, ever so slight – feeling of guilt that I have not read every book in sight, at least in my own den. But this passes when I remember that a book purchased several years ago has just recently been read at the rightest time possible and that I would have been unable to purchase it when I really needed it or felt the irresistible urge to read it.” James Sire, How to Read Slowly

4. Avoid fad reading.

Store shelves are filled with the “latest and greatest, must-read books,” only to be replaced in a week by the next “latest and greatest.” Fad reading produces faddish thinking, characterized by lightness and easy conviction. Read books that have stood the test of time. Set aside methods books for ideas books, books that have stood the test of time, books that strengthen the muscles of your mind and soul, books that sharpen critical thinking and deepen your ability to understand.   

“Everywhere I go, I’m asked if I think the universities stifle writers. My opinion is that they don’t stifle enough of them. There’s many a best seller that could have been prevented by a good teacher.”  Flannery O’Connor

5. Read authors with proven track records of sound content.

Read not just to digest the contents of a book, but to get to know the character of the author and their system of thinking. Let these authors mentor you with their works and lives.

“The reading of all good books is like a conversation with the finest men of past centuries.” René Descartes

6. Read widely:

General and specific studies in theology – Christology, soteriology, Biblical theology, systematic theology, pneumatology, eschatology, hermeneutics, missiology, pastoral theology, etc.

A Note On Pastoral Theology: American churches have far too many business leaders called pastors, and too few pastors. Read to grow as a shepherd. – Neil Anderson, Richard Baxter, Jim Cymbala, H.B. Charles, John Frye, David Hansen, H.B. London, Gordon MacDonald, José Luis Navajo, John Ortberg, Tony Payne, Eugene Peterson, Harold Senkbeil, Scott Thomas, Paul David Tripp – a list of authors to get you started.

Biographies – Divinity through humanity becomes reality. As we read about how God has worked in the lives of others, we come to believe, no, know, He can work in and through our lives as well.  

Worldview – Few pastors are strong in the Christian worldview, as seen in the surveys that say only about 6% of professing Christians in America have a Christian worldview. Do you?

The Classics of Western Civilization: Augustine, Chaucer, Bunyan, Danté, Shakespeare, Solzhenitsyn, Dickens, Milton, Luther, Calvin, etc. Especially Christian classics.

Works outside of theology and ministry – history, economics, biographies, fiction, etc.  

“Christians, of all people, should reflect the mind of their Maker. Learning to read well is a step toward loving God with your mind. It is a leap toward thinking God’s thoughts after Him.” James Sire, How to Read Slowly

“Reading the great classics of Christian literature is a must for spiritual growth. Down through the centuries there have been men and women who have recorded their insights and the exercises for us to read. . . They contain an enormous amount spiritual food.” Gordon MacDonald, Ordering Your Private World

“In my library I have profitably dwelt among the shining lights, with which the learned, wise, and holy men of all ages have illuminated the world.” Richard Baxter

7. Read slowly, carefully. Take your time.  

Someone has said that substantive reading is much like a cow chewing its cud: it takes time to fully digest a book and extract all it has for you. See James Sire’s must-read book, How to Read Slowly, for solid help on this overlooked reading skill.

“While our culture has not yet become entirely illiterate, it has become almost illiterate regarding the close reading of texts.” T. David Gordon, Why Johnny Can’t Preach

8. Don’t just read, study.

Some books are for reading, but others deserve careful study. Add both kinds of books to your reading regimen.

“Dozens of people in my church desire to experience Christ but few want to serve him, many who desire a tangible revelation from God but few willing to give themselves to rigorous study and knowledge of him.” Unnamed Pastor, quoted by Keith R. Anderson in Spiritual Mentoring

9. Meditate on what you read.

Fr 2 mny pstrs r sped redrs, flyng thru thotfl matriel s if they r redng comix. Add stopping and silence to your reading. Slow down. Enjoy. Savor.

“Written words preserve a quite solemn silence.” Plato, Phaedrus

10. Reflect on what you read.

Reflection, or contemplation, is different from meditation. Where meditation helps us focus on the content of the book and the object of the author, reflection focuses the reader on God, His Gospel, and finally, the reader: what does this text open to you about God, the Gospel, and you? Don’t skip this essential element of reading.

“It is reading followed by reflection that drives even the best of educations.” James Emery White, Serious Times

11. Read to develop reasoning ability.

Knowledge of a book’s contents is, of course, one crucial reason why we read. But let each book you read do more. Let it serve you, your ministry, and the people you serve more deeply: Let your reading build muscle in your mind and strength in your reasoning.

“Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body.” Joseph Addison

12. Read to feed your soul.

Again, knowledge is good, but as the Apostle Paul writes, knowledge can “puff up” the ego. Rather than puffing up the ego with knowledge, build up the soul by reading to lay your life before God, asking Him to use this book to give you knowledge of Him, confidence in Him, and humility before Him and others.  

“But in reading great literature I become a thousand men and yet remain myself. Like the night sky in the Greek poem, I see with a myriad eyes, but it is still I who see. Here, as in worship, in love, in moral action, and in knowing, I transcend myself; and am never more myself than when I do.” C.S. Lewis, An Experiment in Criticism

13. Highlight significant portions of the text.

I use a pencil and have a system of markings (-, +, ++, and /) that serve me later when I want to read highlights and savor the riches of this tome again.

“Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested.” Francis Bacon

14. Pull out key quotes and collect them by subject.

I have culled approximately 15,000 quotes from my reading over the past 50 years and systematically organized them by subject. These quotes are a rich reservoir that serves discipleship, pastoral coaching, and preaching. And I’ll be able to share them with those close to me when my public ministry days come to an end.

“A good book is the precious life-blood of a master spirit, embalmed and treasured up on purpose to a life beyond life.” John Milton, Areopagitica

15. Read old books.

20th Century scholar and philosopher C.S. Lewis wrote that before reading a new book, read an old book – so many are so focused on the latest “must-read” book, neglecting the tomes that have stood the test of time. Decades, even centuries, of wisdom and insight are all yours. If you will but take them off the shelf and read.

“It is a good rule, after reading a new book, never to allow yourself another new one till you have read an old one in between.” C.S. Lewis

16. Reread great books

Set up a special shelf or shelves for the books that are must-rereads. And then reread them. Let the great rereads form you over a lifetime. I can point to a handful of authors whose works God has used to form my life and thinking. Every reading of these seers is richer than the one before.

“The newest books are those that never grow old.” Holbrook Jackson

“I can’t imagine a man really enjoying a book and reading it only once.” C.S. Lewis

17. Stop reading an unhelpful book.

Put it down. Put it away. Reading time is too valuable to waste on reading poor typing rather than good writing. A book is like a friend: we want to maximize our interaction with the best of friends.

“Read the best books first, or you may not have a chance to read them at all.” Henry David Thoreau

“Not all that is thought need be said, not all that is said need be written, not all that is written need be published, and not all that is published need be read.” Menachem Mendel Morgensztern, better known as Rabbi Kotzker Rebbe

18. Organize your library for research and re-reading.

A great book is of no further use to you if you can’t find it to refer to it or reread it. 

“Money invested in a library gives much better returns than mining stock.” William Osler 

19. Ask mentors and mature peers what they are reading.

Note all suggestions. Read the ones whose descriptions most move your mind or heart. This is a habit I have long practiced, and it has yielded incredible treasures. Sadly, it’s not a trait I often come across in younger ministers.

“If you want to stay alive to what is great and glorious and beautiful and eternal, you will have to fight for time to look through the eyes of others who were (and are) in touch with God.” John Piper, Brothers, We Are Not Professionals

20. When you have children, read to them and then with them.

Pass on this invaluable, life-forming, relationship-building exercise. Your children and your children’s children will thank you for all their lives.  

“There are many little ways to enlarge your child’s world. Love of books is the best of all.” Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis

21. To quote my first professor in Hermeneutics: Never Pay Full Price.

Look for used books in great shape: Why pay new prices when you can pay used? New or used, never pay full price. Following this simple rule, your library dollar will go farther (Allowing you to buy more books).

“When I get a little money I buy books; and if any is left I buy food and clothes.” Erasmus

FINAL THOUGHT

“You will not see anyone who is truly striving after his spiritual advancement who is not given to spiritual reading.” Athanasius of Alexandria

In II Timothy 4.13, at the end of his life and ministry, Paul sends this startling message to Pastor Timothy:

“When you come, bring the cloak which I left at Troas with Carpus, and the books, especially the parchments.”

Think of it. Paul is only months away from death. He has written the bulk of the letters of the New Testament. He has a lifetime of eternally valuable ministry behind him. And yet, what does he want to do?

Study!

Winter is approaching, and so, of course, Paul asks for his cloak. But more importantly, he asks for his books and parchments. Although the end of his life’s course appears to be at hand, Paul is focused on finishing with a book in his hands, learning and growing through spiritual reading.

If true for the great Apostle at the end of his days, may this be true for this humble pastor every day of my life until I meet Paul in the presence of the One the Bible calls The Word.

“I have always imagined that Paradise will be a kind of library.” Jorge Luis Borges

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NOTE: Journey Pastoral Coaching exists to provide pastoral coaching to Millennial ministers.

Saddled with large student debt, just beginning to set up homes and start families, and serving in low paying first and second positions, Millennials are those who most desire but can least afford to pay for pastoral coaching.

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“Of all vocations, surely the gospel ministry is the one whose paradigm is most radically formed by the dynamics of godly mentorship.” 

Stephen Baldwin