I got a link from fellow Methodist blogger Richard Heyduck that I’ve posted for discussion in BookMining.com and I thought I’d share it and invite responses here too.
These are the results of an interesting survey done a while back of Catholic, Mainline Protestant, and Conservative Protestant pastors about their reading habits: http://www.pulpitandpew.duke.edu/pastorspicks.html
I’m curious about what our answers to the questions might be…
1. If you’re a pastor or in professional ministry, who are your favorite authors about pastor and ministry stuff? What subjects do you tend to read about that are pastor and ministry-related?
2. For everyone, who are your favorite Christian authors about Christian stuff? What subjects do you read most about?
3. What thoughts come to you from reading the research results?
I’ll do some thinking and post mine too.
UPDATE:
Here are some initial thoughts to answer my own questions…
1. Favorite authors and their books…about pastor and ministry stuff:
Eugene Peterson: The Contemplative Pastor, Working the Angles
Henri Nouwen: In the Name of Jesus
Ellsworth Kalas: Preaching from the Soul
N.T. Wright: The Challenge of Jesus, The New Testament and the People of God
Joel Green: NICNT Commentary on the Gospel of Luke, Recovering the Scandal of the Cross
+ Subjects most read about: Spiritual life of a pastor, preaching, teaching, biblical commentaries, theology, leadership
2. Favorite authors (and some books I’ve read) about general Christian stuff:
Eugene Peterson (again!): The Message Bible, A Long Obedience, Answering God
Dallas Williard: The Divine Conspiracy, Renovation of the Heart
Henri Nouwen: Reaching Out, With Burning Hearts
CS Lewis: Mere Christianity, The Great Divorce, The Problem of Pain, Letters to
Malcolm
Richard Foster: Celebration of Discipline, Prayer
3. Coming Soon
Guy M Williams 
Sorry I’m late on the comment, Guy. Too much happening.
1. If you’re a pastor or in professional ministry, who are your favorite authors about pastor and ministry stuff? What subjects do you tend to read about that are pastor and ministry-related?
A. Eugene Peterson, William Willimon, Henry Blackaby, John Maxwell, Andy Stanley.
B. Having a sane life while in ministry; leadership.
2. For everyone, who are your favorite Christian authors about Christian stuff? What subjects do you read most about?
A. Tom Wright, Nancey Murphy, Richard Hays, Nicholas Wolterstorff, Richard Bauckham, Stanley Hauerwas, Stephen Carter.
B. Biblical studies, culture, philosophy, theology.
3. What thoughts come to you from reading the research results?
Main thought: This may be tangential, but I wonder how often we can get away with arguing in our preaching. I don’t mean shouting at peopel or being vituperative, I mean constructing an argument and presenting it to our people. I hear so much these days about how we need to simplify our messages – down to only one point – since people just can’t take any more. I confess I have a bias against baby food. It’s flavorless. It’s boring. I’d rather liven things up – even if not everyone understands everything every time. I’d rather they leave curious and wondering than thoroughly understanding and brain dead.