Book Ends: Fall 2009

At the request of students, faculty members have compiled a list of books from their respective disciplines they find most relevant for the work of church leaders.  Brad A. Binau, professor of pastoral theology and director of Supervised Clinical Ministry/CPE, offers a list of books related to care of the souls.

I am using all of these books in courses I teach and two of them are by TLS alums!

Hamman, Jaco. Becoming a Pastor: Forming Self and Soul for Ministry. Cleveland, OH: Pilgrim Press, 2007. The care of souls begins with the care of our own souls which always involves a commitment to self-understanding. Hamman delves into the psychoanalytic theory of D.W. Winnicott and describes six “capacitites” that are essential for self/soul care. Readers must take care not to be seduced by the seeming simplicity of the “capacities.” And beware: these capacities are not always about what they seem to be about!  

Grant, Deb. (TLS, ’81) Pedestrian Theology: Discovering Faith One Step at a Time. Austin, TX: Langmarc Publishing, 2004. Grant offers her own image-rich life story as a mirror in which we can see or own souls. She has a gift for telling the truth about herself in a way that makes the reader want to be truthful as well. In the end, this is likely the most caring thing we can do to nurture our souls.

Barger, Rick. (TLS, ’89) A New and Right Spirit: Creating an Authentic Church in a Consumer Culture. Washington, D.C.: Alban Institute, 2005. Because the care of souls can flourish as a ministry of the church only when those who practice it are grounded in a robust ecclesiology, I commend Barger’s book. He argues that “authenticity,” being what we espouse is crucial for a missional church. And authenticity is no less the depiction of a well-cared for soul.

Gaillardetz, Richard. Transforming Our Days: Finding God Amid the Noise of Modern Life. Ligouri, MO: Ligouri, 2007. The care of souls involves consideration of how people live, the choices they make, and the things they worship which involves us in cultural analysis. Our entire faculty read this book last year and was enriched by Gaillardetz’s depiction of how soul care involves “focal practices” – things like cooking from scratch and tending a fire or painting the house (practices made unnecessary by the “devices” of frozen food, central heating and vinyl siding) that give life depth and meaning.

Over the summer I read three hilarious novels by southern author, Clyde Edgerton: The Bible Salesman, Lunch at the Picadilly, and Walking Across Egypt. On the serious side my love for history
balanced these out with three books about WWI: All Quiet on the Western Front (Erich Maria), Farewell to Arms (Ernest Hemmingway), and The Guns of August (Barbara Tuchman).