{"id":852909,"date":"2025-07-02T05:00:14","date_gmt":"2025-07-02T10:00:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/?p=852909"},"modified":"2025-07-01T15:13:19","modified_gmt":"2025-07-01T20:13:19","slug":"7-non-ministry-books-every-pastor-should-read","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/blog\/7-non-ministry-books-every-pastor-should-read\/","title":{"rendered":"7 Non-Ministry Books Every Pastor Should Read"},"content":{"rendered":"

For reasons beyond the scope of this post, my younger self went many years without reading anything not at least indirectly related to pastoral ministry or my Christian growth. Commentaries, works of theology, homiletics, and church leadership comprised the bulk of my reading. Biographies had to be missionary biographies\u2026unless they were biographies of Christian athletes.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

There\u2019s certainly nothing wrong with that diet, especially for a pastor. Pastors surely want to improve their preaching craft, stay current on theological trends, and glory in the stories of our Christian forebears. But, just like anything else, ministry-related reading can become a bubble, within which expanded thinking is impossible, while endless refining becomes the norm.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

More than a decade ago, then still in full-time pastoral ministry, I shifted my reading to include more \u201cregular\u201d history, biographies of not-necessarily-Christian people, fiction, science, and more. I began (and still am) expanding my author list well beyond the easily recognizable names of pastors and theologians whose books dominate pastoral libraries.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s been one of the best decisions I ever made. So, in that spirit and in no particular order, here are seven non-ministry books I think every pastor should read.<\/span><\/p>\n

Lincoln\u2019s Melancholy: How Depression Challenged a President and Fueled His Greatness<\/b><\/a>, by Joshua Wolf Shenk<\/span><\/p>\n

I wish I had read this one when it was first published in 2005. Shenk uses an enormous amount of primary sources in examining Lincoln\u2019s mental state from when he was a young man through his presidency. He also uses contemporary medical science to examine what Lincoln might have been dealing with at a time when \u201cmelancholy\u201d was the typical word used for \u201cdepression.\u201d Shenk doesn\u2019t disregard medication; he isn\u2019t using Lincoln as some kind of \u201cHe didn\u2019t need drugs and you don\u2019t either\u201d totem. Rather, he honors a man who, lacking other alternatives, did not give up.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Blood Done Sign My Name<\/b><\/a>, by Timothy B. Tyson<\/span><\/p>\n

Easily one of the most powerful books I\u2019ve read on racism in the American South. From the jarring opening line through the contextualized and partly autobiographical telling of the cold-blooded 1970 murder of Henry \u201cDickie\u201d Marrow in Oxford, NC, Tyson\u2019s story rarely lets up. As his father was the local Methodist pastor, the role of local churches and Christians amid racial violence is not overlooked.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Devil\u2019s Delusion: Atheism and Its Scientific Pretensions<\/b><\/a>, by David Berlinski<\/span><\/p>\n

First published in 2008 during the heyday of the New Atheism movement, Berlinski, an agnostic Jewish mathematician, wrote this invective against weaknesses he perceived in the way Christopher Hitchens, Richard Dawkins, et al, argued their points. Even as an unbeliever himself, he found the so-called \u201cFour Horsemen\u201d unconvincing. This book is a gem of debate, philosophical application, theological reflection, sarcasm, and wit.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

By the Fire We Carry: The Generations-Long Fight for Justice on Native Land<\/b><\/a>, by Rebecca Nagle (Cherokee Nation)<\/span><\/p>\n

Continuing in the path of <\/span>Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee<\/span><\/i> and <\/span>Trail of Tears<\/span><\/i>, Nagle\u2019s work differs in that it is both history and current events. A murder on the Muscogee reservation in Oklahoma stirred a jurisdictional dispute, leading to a startling Supreme Court finding in 2020. <\/span>Fire<\/span><\/i> is riveting and opens the eyes to the plight of Native Americans to this very day.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Peace Like a River<\/b><\/a>, by Leif Enger<\/span><\/p>\n

The only novel on this list, <\/span>Peace Like a River<\/span><\/i> is an extraordinary mid-20<\/span>th<\/span> century saga of love, family, responsibility, and what can happen when you try to do the right thing. Beautiful writing, engaging characters, and a penultimate chapter as satisfying and holy as anything you\u2019re likely to read.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Everything Sad Is Untrue<\/b><\/a>, by Daniel Nayeri<\/span><\/p>\n

I have recommended this one as much as any other book. Nayeri was born in Iran, then immigrated with his family to Oklahoma at the age of eight, after spending two years as a refugee. Written in the voice of his childhood self, it\u2019s hilarious, moving, heart-rending, and oh, so worth the time.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Thing in the Bushes: Turning Organizational Blind Spots into Competitive Advantage<\/b><\/a>, by Kevin Graham Ford and James P. Osterhaus<\/span><\/p>\n

I cheated a little here. This is not technically a \u201cministry\u201d book, but it addresses a flaw common to any group of people organized for any reason: the inability to see the real problems in the organization. This \u201cthing\u201d hides in for-profits, nonprofits, and religious organizations. The \u201cthing\u201d isn\u2019t the same thing in every organization. It could be the culture, a single overbearing leader, organizational structure, poor communication, or something else. <\/span>The Thing in the Bushes<\/span><\/i> doesn\u2019t evaluate your theology. It helps locate and fix the thing prohibiting your theology\u2014and mission\u2014from having the full effect.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"For reasons beyond the scope of this post, my younger self went many years without reading anything not at least indirectly related to pastoral ministry or my Christian growth. Commentaries, works of theology, homiletics, and church leadership comprised the bulk of my reading. Biographies had to be missionary biographies\u2026unless they were biographies of Christian athletes.\u00a0…","protected":false},"author":19048,"featured_media":852913,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"publish_to_discourse":"0","publish_post_category":"1","wpdc_auto_publish_overridden":"","wpdc_topic_tags":"","wpdc_pin_topic":"","wpdc_pin_until":"","discourse_post_id":"","discourse_permalink":"","wpdc_publishing_response":"","wpdc_publishing_error":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1,183,184,175,191,14796],"tags":[20831,20833,20834,20838,20836,20832,20835,20837],"class_list":["post-852909","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-church-answers","category-communications","category-discipleship","category-grow","category-mind-body-and-spirit","category-monday-wednesday-featured","tag-7-non-ministry-books-every-pastor-should-read","tag-blood-done-sign-my-name-by-timothy-b-tyson","tag-by-the-fire-we-carry-the-generations-long-fight-for-justice-on-native-land-by-rebecca-nagle","tag-devils-delusion-atheism-and-its-scientific-pretensions-by-david-berlinski","tag-everything-sad-is-untrue-by-daniel-nayeri","tag-lincolns-melancholy-how-depression-challenged-a-president-and-fueled-his-greatness-by-joshua-wolf-shenk","tag-peace-like-a-river-by-leif-enger","tag-the-thing-in-the-bushes-turning-organizational-blind-spots-into-competitive-advantage-by-kevin-graham-ford-and-james-p-osterhaus"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n7 Non-Ministry Books Every Pastor Should Read | Church Answers<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"For reasons beyond the scope of this post, my younger self went many years without reading anything not at least indirectly related to pastoral ministry or my Christian growth. Commentaries, works of theology, homiletics, and church leadership comprised the bulk of my reading. Biographies had to be missionary biographies\u2026unless they were biographies of Christian athletes. There\u2019s certainly nothing wrong with that diet, especially for a pastor. Pastors surely want to improve their preaching craft, stay current on theological trends, and glory in the stories of our Christian forebears. But, just like anything else, ministry-related reading can become a bubble, within which expanded thinking is impossible, while endless refining becomes the norm. More than a decade ago, then still in full-time pastoral ministry, I shifted my reading to include more \u201cregular\u201d history, biographies of not-necessarily-Christian people, fiction, science, and more. I began (and still am) expanding my author list well beyond the easily recognizable names of pastors and theologians whose books dominate pastoral libraries. It\u2019s been one of the best decisions I ever made. So, in that spirit and in no particular order, here are seven non-ministry books I think every pastor should read.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/blog\/7-non-ministry-books-every-pastor-should-read\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"7 Non-Ministry Books Every Pastor Should Read | Church Answers\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"For reasons beyond the scope of this post, my younger self went many years without reading anything not at least indirectly related to pastoral ministry or my Christian growth. Commentaries, works of theology, homiletics, and church leadership comprised the bulk of my reading. Biographies had to be missionary biographies\u2026unless they were biographies of Christian athletes. There\u2019s certainly nothing wrong with that diet, especially for a pastor. Pastors surely want to improve their preaching craft, stay current on theological trends, and glory in the stories of our Christian forebears. But, just like anything else, ministry-related reading can become a bubble, within which expanded thinking is impossible, while endless refining becomes the norm. More than a decade ago, then still in full-time pastoral ministry, I shifted my reading to include more \u201cregular\u201d history, biographies of not-necessarily-Christian people, fiction, science, and more. I began (and still am) expanding my author list well beyond the easily recognizable names of pastors and theologians whose books dominate pastoral libraries. It\u2019s been one of the best decisions I ever made. So, in that spirit and in no particular order, here are seven non-ministry books I think every pastor should read.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/blog\/7-non-ministry-books-every-pastor-should-read\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Church Answers\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-07-02T10:00:14+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Stack-Of-Books-With-Coffee.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"628\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Marty Duren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Marty Duren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/blog\/7-non-ministry-books-every-pastor-should-read\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/blog\/7-non-ministry-books-every-pastor-should-read\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Marty Duren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/#\/schema\/person\/08a82250734440d280ffdb7473a3e33e\"},\"headline\":\"7 Non-Ministry Books Every Pastor Should Read\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-07-02T10:00:14+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/blog\/7-non-ministry-books-every-pastor-should-read\/\"},\"wordCount\":790,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/blog\/7-non-ministry-books-every-pastor-should-read\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Stack-Of-Books-With-Coffee.png\",\"keywords\":[\"7 Non-Ministry Books Every Pastor Should Read\",\"Blood Done Sign My Name by Timothy B. 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For many years, he has served churches in Georgia and Tennessee in full- and part-time pastoral and volunteer opportunities. Marty is married to Sonya, the love of his life. Their four kids are grown; their two grandkids are not. They have a collie with PTSD and a cat with an attitude. His latest book is The Disparate Ones: Essays on Being in the World but Not of the World (Missional Press). Reach Marty at freelance.martyduren.com, or connect on Facebook and Bluesky.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/blog\/author\/martyduren\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"7 Non-Ministry Books Every Pastor Should Read | Church Answers","description":"For reasons beyond the scope of this post, my younger self went many years without reading anything not at least indirectly related to pastoral ministry or my Christian growth. Commentaries, works of theology, homiletics, and church leadership comprised the bulk of my reading. Biographies had to be missionary biographies\u2026unless they were biographies of Christian athletes. There\u2019s certainly nothing wrong with that diet, especially for a pastor. Pastors surely want to improve their preaching craft, stay current on theological trends, and glory in the stories of our Christian forebears. But, just like anything else, ministry-related reading can become a bubble, within which expanded thinking is impossible, while endless refining becomes the norm. More than a decade ago, then still in full-time pastoral ministry, I shifted my reading to include more \u201cregular\u201d history, biographies of not-necessarily-Christian people, fiction, science, and more. I began (and still am) expanding my author list well beyond the easily recognizable names of pastors and theologians whose books dominate pastoral libraries. It\u2019s been one of the best decisions I ever made. 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Commentaries, works of theology, homiletics, and church leadership comprised the bulk of my reading. Biographies had to be missionary biographies\u2026unless they were biographies of Christian athletes. There\u2019s certainly nothing wrong with that diet, especially for a pastor. Pastors surely want to improve their preaching craft, stay current on theological trends, and glory in the stories of our Christian forebears. But, just like anything else, ministry-related reading can become a bubble, within which expanded thinking is impossible, while endless refining becomes the norm. More than a decade ago, then still in full-time pastoral ministry, I shifted my reading to include more \u201cregular\u201d history, biographies of not-necessarily-Christian people, fiction, science, and more. I began (and still am) expanding my author list well beyond the easily recognizable names of pastors and theologians whose books dominate pastoral libraries. It\u2019s been one of the best decisions I ever made. So, in that spirit and in no particular order, here are seven non-ministry books I think every pastor should read.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/blog\/7-non-ministry-books-every-pastor-should-read\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/blog\/7-non-ministry-books-every-pastor-should-read\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/blog\/7-non-ministry-books-every-pastor-should-read\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Stack-Of-Books-With-Coffee.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Stack-Of-Books-With-Coffee.png","width":1200,"height":628,"caption":"Stack Of Books With Coffee"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/blog\/7-non-ministry-books-every-pastor-should-read\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"7 Non-Ministry Books Every Pastor Should Read"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/","name":"Church Answers","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/#\/schema\/person\/08a82250734440d280ffdb7473a3e33e","name":"Marty Duren","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/004fb9f65e2cda641f395fe1371bb1567b0c47d6aada587f8c064d2878b86fa5?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/004fb9f65e2cda641f395fe1371bb1567b0c47d6aada587f8c064d2878b86fa5?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Marty Duren"},"description":"Marty Duren is a writer, editor, and publisher in Nashville, TN. For many years, he has served churches in Georgia and Tennessee in full- and part-time pastoral and volunteer opportunities. Marty is married to Sonya, the love of his life. Their four kids are grown; their two grandkids are not. They have a collie with PTSD and a cat with an attitude. His latest book is The Disparate Ones: Essays on Being in the World but Not of the World (Missional Press). Reach Marty at freelance.martyduren.com, or connect on Facebook and Bluesky.","url":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/blog\/author\/martyduren\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/852909","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/19048"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=852909"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/852909\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":852915,"href":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/852909\/revisions\/852915"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/852913"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=852909"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=852909"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=852909"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}