Building up your library

I've spent a little time this evening looking at the shelves of books that line two+ walls of my study.  There are hundreds of books on these shelves plus I have more on my NOOK and Kindle devices.  As I was looking at the shelves of books I was reminded of when I began my pastoral ministry in 1981.  I had one three-shelf bookshelf that that had books on one shelf.  I found it very difficult to prepare proper sermons and do the study I needed to do on various topics of pastoral ministry.  Two or three times a month I would visit a nearby college library to use their commentaries and other religious books.  While that helped I dreamed of developing a library of my own.

I now have the opportunity to visit numerous pastors in their churches, and one of the troubling things I find in many of their studies is the lack of good books.  Sometimes this is true of fully-funded pastors, and it is often true for the bivocational ministers I visit.  As one who has always believed that leaders are readers, I wonder what they are doing to grow their leadership and communication skills.  Perhaps, like me in my earlier years of ministry, they make use of public and college libraries, but this has its limitations.  It takes time to go to the library, and the resource you need may not be available when you need it.  My recommendation for ministers is to build up a library of the resources that you need to be effective in ministry.

Books are expensive so most ministers will need to build their library slowly.  The good news is there are many ways to save substantial dollars on the books you want.  For several years I attended the annual book sale our local public library held each fall.  I became a member of the library so I got access to the sale the day before it opened to the public.  That cost me $10.00 a year.  When the doors opened I went straight to the religious section.  Most years I left there with at least one sack of ministry-related books.  My best find was the two-volume Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament which sells for around $100.00 which I bought for $2.00.

Many of the books I purchased were ordered through CBD which offers Christian books at very good prices.   I also had some success visiting a used Christian bookstore near the seminary when I was a student where I found books at greatly reduced prices.  It's also amazing what one can find at yard sales and at the Goodwill stores.  A pastor friend of mine who has thousands of books in his library regularly visits Goodwill stores looking for books.

Some publishers look for persons to review their books.  A few years ago I began reviewing books for one such publisher.  From a list of books I could select one that I thought I would enjoy, they would send me the book free of charge (which I got to keep), and when my review was published I could select another free book as payment for my review.  I did this for a few years and added several books to my library at no cost to me.

Although many e-books are nearly as expensive as printed ones, both NOOK and Kindle do offer some great prices on quality e-books.  Just last night I purchased a book for my Kindle that normally sells for $16.99 for the printed version for $2.99.  That kind of savings can really help your book budget.

Speaking of book budgets, your church should have in its budget a line item that will reimburse you for the books and other resources you purchase.  Our small church provided me with a $400.00 per year book allowance.  They saw it as an investment in their future, and so should your church.  If your church does not offer the pastor a book allowance ask for one.

Because books are so expensive one needs to purchase them carefully.  Early in my ministry I spent quite a bit of money on two commentary sets that proved to not be very helpful.  That was money I could not afford to lose, but I did learn a valuable lesson about being sure the books I bought would actually be helpful to my ministry.

The books you buy are an investment in your ministry.  They will shape you and the way you think.  They will help you as you prepare your messages and as you lead your congregation.  They will give you new tools you will use as you minister to people.  They will also help expand your thinking and challenge some of the preconceptions you may have about various issues and doctrines.  I would not be the person and the minister I am today if I had not read the books I've read.  Invest in yourself and build you a library that will serve your ministry well.