Overstatement

This year, our new district superintendent sent me a note asking me (and my clergy colleagues, presumably) to put together a plan for “continuing education.” Formally, we clergy have always been asked to make such a plan, but seldom have we been asked to actually produce one. I took the request in stride and, among other things, came up with a list of books I intend to read over the next few months. Here is the list, if you are interested:

Bass, Dianna Butler. Christianity for the Rest of Us

Cladis, George. Leading the Team-Based Church

Harris, Sam. The End of Faith: Religion, Terror and the Future of Reason

Long, Thomas. Testimony: Talking Ourselves into Being Christian

Neff, Thomas J. and Citrin, James M. You’re in Charge. Now what?

Tillich, Paul. A History of Christian Thought

Tolan, Sandy. The Lemon Tree

Weems, Jr. Lovett H. Church Leadership: Vision, Team, Culture and Integrity

I’m sure I’ll toss in some science fiction as well, but these books represent several areas of interest for me and I think they will contribute to my pastoral skills. I also think they would be good books for anyone in ministry to read. As I knock them out, I’ll let you know what I think of them!