I was just sent the book God’s Potters: Pastoral Leadership and the Shaping of Congregations in the mail this week by Pulpit and Pew and Dechant & Hughes. I hope to read this book fairly quickly and have a review posted up within the next two months. Right now that’s quick for me.
But as I was skimming through the pages Table 4.3 on page 109 caught my eye. The author, Jackson W. Carroll lists the “Most-Read Authors by Denominational Tradition.” Jackson says, “Not only did we ask how many hours they spend in general reading, but we also asked what three authors they most often read in relation to their work as pastors.”
Below is the list of authors listed by professional clergy. The list is in order from 1-10 with the authors at the top being the most read.
Catholic
Henri J. M. Nouwen
John Paul II
Raymond Brown
William J. Bausch
Walter J. Burghardt
Scott Hahn
Anthony de Mello
William Barclay
Richard P. McBrien
Karl Rahner
Mainline Protestant
Henri J. M. Nouwen
William Willimon
Frederick Buechner
Max Lucado
Eugene Peterson
C.S. Lewis
Marcus Borg
Lyle Schaller
Philip Yancey
Walter Brueggemann
Conservative Protestant
Max Lucado
John Maxwell
Charles Swindoll
John MacArthur
Philip Yancey
Rick Warren
C.S. Lewis
Warren Wiersbe
Charles Spurgeon
Eugene Peterson
Historic Black
Warren Wiersbe
John MacArthur
Matthew Henry
John Maxwell
Charles Swindoll
Charles Spurgeon
Rick Warren
Charles Stanley
J. Vernon McGee
Max Lucado
My top three in relation to my pastoral work: Henri Nouwen, Eugene Peterson and Dietrich Bonhoneffer. What are yours?
