The Pastor's Bookshelf (Austin Carty) -- A Review
THE PASTOR’S BOOKSHELF: Why Reading Matters for Ministry. By Austin Carty. Foreword by Thomas G. Long. Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2022. Xiv + 168 pages.
I love to read. As an expression of
that love, I'm the chair of a Book of the Year awards program and a regular
reviewer of books. I always have several books going at once. I hear word that
some clergy are so busy they don’t have time to read. How can that be? How can
one get up in the pulpit each week and not be engaged in reading? Is it true
that the most recent copyright date on a pastor’s bookshelf coincides with the
date of their graduation? Again, I’ve heard that this is truer than one would
care to believe. As a pastor myself (now retired) I know busy clergy can be,
but shouldn't we all make reading a central part of our ministry life? Now, I’m
not saying they have to read as many books as I do each year, but surely they
can find time to read at least one book per month. Is that too much to ask?
Austin Carty is one who believes
every pastor should read and read widely. It’s a message that he shares in his
book The Pastor’s Bookshelf: Why Reading Matters for Ministry. It’s the
subtitle that is the key to the book and its message. Carty is the pastor of
Boulevard Baptist Church, a congregation in Anderson, South Carolina affiliated
with the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship. Before becoming a pastor he was a high
school English teacher, which helps account for his insistence on the need to
be a reading pastor.
When it comes to reading, Carty
wants clergy to know that only reading ministry-related books is not a
sufficiently healthy diet. While he suggests we read a wide variety of books,
he puts a special emphasis on reading fiction. Even as my food diet is not
sufficiently balanced, as my physique will attest, I will confess that despite
reading over a hundred books a year, I don't read as much fiction as I should.
Now, I have my excuses (much of my reading is for review plus I enjoy reading
theology), I know that I need to stop and read a few more novels and short
stories into my reading diet. Of course, I said the same thing after reading, and reviewing for the Christian Century, Cornelius Plantinga's book Reading for Preaching: ThePreacher in Conversation with Storytellers, Biographers, Poets, and Journalists. Having read Carty’s book, I am going to try to add more
fiction to my reading diet.
With this confession offered, I
will get to the heart of Carty’s message. He wants to impart to us a word of
wisdom about why reading matters for ministry. He starts by addressing the
concern shared by many about devoting significant time to reading. That
includes devoting work time to reading. He tells a story about how he felt
guilty and hoped no one would see him reading Dostoevsky's The Idiot. Despite the sense of guilt at that moment,
with time he realized that spending office time reading fiction was actually a
good use of time. That is because reading fiction not only made him a better
pastor but also a better person. Having come to this conclusion, Carty wants to
give us "permission to read freely." He writes in the introduction
that despite the feeling of guilt about using "ministry time" to
read, he "knew in my gut that reading books—books of all genres—would
somehow sharpen my skills as a practicing minister" (p. 2). That has
proven true in his life, so he wants to pass on that word to the rest of us.
Carty divides his book into three
sections. He titles Section One "All the Reading We Don't Remember."
In this section he wants us to know that while reading informs, that's not the
ultimate purpose of our reading. Rather reading widely serves the purpose of
formation. We might not remember everything we read but what read becomes part
of a reservoir that informs how we view the world, the church, and ministry. With
that in mind, he begins with reading as formation in chapter one, such that our
reading forms in us a sense of wisdom or even gravitas. Having made that point
he moves on in chapter two to contrast formation with information. Here is where Carty imparts the wisdom that
the most important element of our reading isn’t remembering what we read.
Taking time to read is an end in itself. The point he wants to make with this
contrast between formation and information is that if gaining information is
the point of our reading, then our inability to remember everything we read
would suggest that reading is not a good use of time. I find this helpful since
I can’t remember everything I read (I’m not Commander Data after all). Having
said this, reading for information does have its place, which is the subject of
chapter three. and from there speaks of information because reading will
inform. The point here is that while information
is valuable it’s not ultimate. Having laid out this contrast between formation
and information, Carty is ready to proceed in his focus on reading as
formation, with a discussion of developing wisdom through reading (chapter 4).
He writes of wisdom, which comes from a broad reading program, that "it is
about one's capacity to discern the bigger picture; to see beyond the present moment
with its immediate concerns and anxieties; to distinguish between an impulsive
reaction and a measured response" (p. 48). Not only does reading
contribute to wisdom, but it also contributes to "Learning to Love"
(chapter 5). Reading opens our eyes and ears and hearts to others through their
stories.
If Section One argues for the value
of reading for formation and not just information, Section Two comes back to
the claim made by many clergy that they simply don't have time to read. The
view of many is that reading is a luxury. If I had time I would read! Carty
doesn’t buy this argument so in Section Two, which he titles "Not Just a
Luxury," offers a compelling answer to the oft-heard claim. In response,
he argues that reading is not a luxury, but rather it is a necessity.
Therefore, clergy are called to read for ministry. Reading, he argues
"forms us specifically as ministers, sharpening our vocational skills and
greatly expanding our pastoral range." (p. 65). As in Section 1, Carty
demonstrates this truth by telling his own story. He shares that through our
reading we discover how we can be "more effective preachers, pastoral
caregivers, vision-casters, and organization leaders." With this in mind,
he has chapters on each of these four elements of ministry. What distinguishes
Carty’s book from Plantinga's earlier book is that while Plantinga focuses on
reading for preaching, Carty expands the range of application. Thus, I
recommend reading the two books in tandem, as both offer extremely helpful
words of wisdom for clergy.
While Section 1 speaks of the formation
of wisdom and love as the foundation for ministry and devotes Section 2 to speak
of reading for effective ministry, in Section 3, Carty focuses on how reading
contributes to our lives as clergy. He offers here ways in which we can
incorporate reading into our busy lives. First of all, Carty argues that it's
okay to read in the office during office hours. Don’t feel guilty when someone
catches you reading a work of fiction (it doesn’t have to be Dostoevsky).
However, we shouldn’t limit our reading to that timeframe. One of the important
suggestions he makes in the book is that we should view our reading in terms of
a pastoral visit. That is, just as we call upon our members, books can be
recipients of our pastoral visits. In the course of our reading as pastoral
visits, we learn and grow and become formed as people and as pastors. He also speaks
of reading as a spiritual discipline (by that he means reading that includes
but is not limited to the Bible or even religious books. He believes books, in
general, can feed our spirits). He speaks as well of reading with a proper
spirit. That is, we should read with humility and receptively. He writes that
“No matter how much—or how widely—one reads, if one is not reading with a
charitable eye toward the author, along with a curious disposition toward the
material one is reading, one will not be formed in the meritorious ways this
book is suggesting” (p. 121). Of course, the question comes up, how do we
organize what we read. Here again, Carty offers only his own experience. So, he
shares how he marks up books with a specific code and then adds the notes to a
larger Word document that is searchable using the code. Perhaps that will work
for you. Finally, he speaks of "reading Scripture as a
Pastor-reader." Yes, reading Scripture is part of our reading experience
as clergy if we are to be true pastor-readers. Scripture forms our language and
identity. He suggests that the reason he ended with this chapter rather than
beginning with it is that he wanted to foreground the other forms of reading,
knowing that many pastors read Scripture but fail to read broadly. He wants us
to read broadly while also reading Scripture, such that this isn't a choice
between broad reading and Scripture reading. They go hand in hand.
Carty’s book isn’t lengthy. For
those clergy worried about getting bogged down before embracing a new pattern,
don’t worry, it won’t take you that long to read The Pastor's Bookshelf. Then you can
begin implementing his suggestions. I hope those clergy who struggle to make
room for reading will see in Carty’s book a word of permission. It’s important to
read broadly for the good of the ministry and our lives and it's okay to spend
“ministry time” reading. And if your congregational leaders are concerned about
your taking time out to read in the office, why not pass the book on to them
and have them read it. So, once again don't feel guilty if you're caught
reading a book of fiction during office hours. Know that you are being formed
to be a better person and a better pastor!
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