First Year of Ministry Pastor Book Recommendations (apart from The Bible)
Curious - which books would you recommend within Logos to a newly ordained first-year Protestant Baptist Pastor (in terms of all of his duties)? Thanks.
Blessed Easter Everyone...He is Risen...May we all serve and share Him well.
Glory to God...Jesus Lead On!
https://www.logos.com/product/41855/h-norman-wright-grief-counseling-collection
https://www.logos.com/product/52624/nelsons-ministers-manual-nkjv-edition
https://www.logos.com/product/27013/christian-ministers-manual
https://www.logos.com/product/38194/helps-for-ministers-and-other-christian-workers
https://www.logos.com/product/43424/pastoral-care-bundle
https://www.logos.com/product/9122/pastoral-visitation-a-pocket-manual
https://www.logos.com/product/45345/hope-for-the-heart-biblical-counseling-library
A shame the Chaplains Library never resurfaced....a crying shame.
p.s. If you read this far - I would appreciate prayer for a full time associate pastor's role. I graduate next month from Luther Rice Seminary with MDiv-Ministry (Master's Degree). I studied online for 6 years and the program is affordable and awesome. My advice take Romans, Acts and Counseling courses early if you begin. Also Logos Developers and Faithlife crew...I could not have gone through Seminary without you. Thanks.
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Congratulations on your graduation/ordination.
I suppose it would depend of where you end up, and what your responsibilities will be.
Will you be preaching? Teaching a bible study? Leading a youth group? Doing hospital visits?
God willing, you will learn the most practical knowledge from the pastor over you, who can mentor you in serving God's people.
Thanks to FL for including Carta and a Hebrew audio bible in Logos 9!
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Thanks Petah. I have not graduated yet and my classes continue til the end of this month. I also have not been called by a church yet but hope to be. God bless all of you searching for a full time pastoral job in ministry. I join your ranks soon and will be working on my resume in the next few months.Glory to God - I have a lot of practical experience/training at 55 (a lot in what NOT to do) but am teachable and definitely want to learn and serve well.
I hoped the list we all make above (by the way I hope to do all of those things above but have never led a youth group) would be a blessing to many.Logos has so many wonderful resources and is an amazing tool despite my sometimes grumbling at its interface and challenges. I am going to be diving into Logos and intensive training within it making fuller use of it ("aw oh Shaggy" - Scooby Do would say).
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Far and away my most used resource is the Journal of Biblical Counseling. (And I'm excited about the forthcoming update!)
I use it in both my pastoral counseling and my sermon prep (see the link on sermon application in my signature below). The June Hunt counseling library is great because it covers lots of topics but it's rather superficial. The JBC is more narrowly focused but incredibly deep on the comfort and process of transformation God's Word works in the hearts of his people.
After the Bibles this is the best resource in the entire Logos catalog.
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This Gospel Coalition article attempts to answer your question. Most of the recommendations are in Logos. https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/10-books-that-belong-on-every-pastors-bookshelf
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Hi JoshInRi,
I'm a families' worker and local church elder at a church in the UK. Though these books might not fit your brief in terms of 'duties', they are three books that I have found extremely helpful in my relatively short time [five years] in formal church ministry. My hope is that they will compliment the practical ones :-).
1. Dangerous Calling by Paul David Tripp (https://vyrso.com/product/42562/dangerous-calling-confronting-the-unique-challenges-of-pastoral-ministry) - Having worked with countless churches close to, at, and beyond breaking point, Tripp outlines some of the toxic elements of pastoral culture and what can be done about it. You may find some of his warnings overstated for someone just starting out but it is sage advice nonetheless. I keep coming back to many of his warnings.
2. How Long O Lord by D. A. Carson (https://www.logos.com/product/7798/how-long-o-lord-reflections-on-suffering-and-evil) knowing how to do pastoral care is obviously really important, but I've found that knowing why I need to do pastoral care in the first place is essential. Not only that, sadly, many church leaders experience evil and suffering at the hands of their own congregations. Having a robust theology of suffering certainly helps in these times, even if it doesn't make it more comfortable.
Carson says early on, "it is important for Christians to have as stable a set of beliefs as possible on these matters [of evil and suffering] before a personal tragedy or a fresh experience of life challenges them." Experience, personal, pastoral, and the experiences of friends in ministry has shown me how right Carson is...
3. Doctrine of the Christian Life by John Frame (https://www.logos.com/product/49813/doctrine-of-the-christian-life). Everything John Frame has written is gold but I recommended this one because of his excellent commentary in the Ten Commandments (esp. the Sabbath); his summary of the Tri-perspectival approach and all the helpful stuff on ethics. Bit left field, but worth it imho.
Sorry they don't explicitly fit your brief, but I hope you find them as helpful as I have. I'd love to hear your thoughts anyway.
Praying 1 Peter 5:1-4 for you this morning. Happy Easter.
Liam
Carpe verbum.
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Greetings in Christ Jesus Everyone...
Your posts are truly a blessing. The Dangerous Calling book is my Amazon Kindle collection and I will return to it. I think I got the audible copy once too. I also think every post here so far is spot on and very wise suggestions. Really wonderful replies that are so uplifting to read and make use of. The links are all really helpful too. What a great way to encourage one another...and yes me too. I ordered that DA Carson book above (gasp - an actual used book instead of Kindle or Logos) and put the Journal of Biblical Counseling suggestion on my wishlist.
Seems a shame that all this practical stuff is not incorporated into some inexpensive useful library option within Logos, right? I mean something tailored to practical use of Scriptures and counseling/chaplain/1st year pastor related would be awesome.
Liam, I single you out for your wonderful prayer and Scripture note....that made my day. 5 years imho is a long time in ministry....I should be so blessed. Everyone else...your posts were great too and I value every one of them.
God bless you all. He is Risen....
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The books you've listed would probably be helpful, judging by the titles. I would agree with Liam's recommendation of D.A. Carson's "How Long, Oh Lord." It is not in any way a "how-to," in pastoral ministry, but a great book to organize your beliefs on pain and suffering.
The best general book I have ever read or know of on pastoral duties (especially in the Baptist tradition) is "Criswell's Guidebook For Pastors." Unfortunately, I don't think it is available through Logos. It is old, and in several places, a bit dated. It is often extremely specific, giving precisely how to do things, precisely what to say in certain situations. However, of the books I've come across as a pastor, it is still the best over-all reference book on how most all of the elements of a church should work, and how one practically carries out the job of pastoring that I've ever seen. It covers a surprisingly wide range of elements of church and pastoring, including a pastor's personal life and faith.
Over time, a pastor will form his own philosophy and practice in various elements of ministry. However, in those areas that a pastor hasn't shaped his own views yet, this book provides a great guide, and instill confidence in those elements of the job.
I imagine you would have to do a bit of searching to get ahold of a copy at this point, but in my opinion, it would be worth it. (Actually, I would bet you could still pick up a new copy at Lifeway.)
My copy was given to me by an old, wise pastor when I was early in my ministry. I still reference it from time to time, after decades of pastoral ministry. And, I've given out a bunch of copies to new pastors just starting out.
For what it's worth.
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Your opinion and advice is worth a lot. Thanks for the time and care you took in a great reply.
Bless you,
Joshua
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