First, read the pastors’ reading list at http://jmm.org.au/articles/21674.htm

Two key sections missing: church history, and lexicons.

To rectify this, Dr Ken Manley (retired Australian Baptist prof. of church history) wrote:

Rowland,

There are many books which I would think a busy pastor would value and find not only inspiring but offer many a good illustration for a sermon.

In my experience the more genuinely ‘busy’ a pastor is the more they structure in time for reading and reflection. From many I would suggest as starters:

David Bebbington, The Dominance of Evangelicalism: The age of Spurgeon and Moody (IVP, 2005). One in a series of 5 volumes ‘A History of Evangelicalism’.

Paul Fiddes, Tracks and Traces. Baptist identity in Church and Theology (Paternoster, 2003). Theology but a collection of essays with a strong Baptist history content.

Ian Breward, A History of the Churches in Australasia (OUP, 2001)

S Piggin, Evangelical Christianity in Australia (Melbourne, 1996)

H Carey, Believing in Australia (Allen & Unwin, 1996).

(These last 3 are also inviting busy pastors to reflect on the fact that they live in Australia. I believe there are some books which attempt to tell something of the Australian Baptist story.)

[Rowland’s note: Ken is being humbly oblique here: see the recommendations in the Wikipedia article on Australian Baptists – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baptist_Union_of_Australia]

M Miles, The image and practice of Holiness (SCM, 1989).

If you want biographies many could be added to those on the list (but for Carey select one from the 20th century, such as the one by Timothy George, rather than one by George Adam Smith from the 19th!). One of the best and a solid but challenging read is H D Rack, Reasonable Enthusiast, a wonderful biography of Wesley.

(Of course there are no lexicons listed Rowland because even non-busy pastors don’t ‘read’ them but being committed to Scripture they use them as reference works for their exegetical work. Reading good church history is quite different).

Ken

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Re lexicons

My [Rowland’s] comment: I hope busy and non-busy pastors are using lexicons, but of the hundreds I’ve talked to, most don’t. Older ones (like me) mostly rely on people like William Barclay to provide nuances for Greek words/phrases… .

On that question: if anyone has to choose one (Greek) lexicon: which is best these days?

Rowland Croucher