Books

Here are some excellent, basic books that would be a solid addition to every pastor’s library:

Commentaries & Bible Interpretation

Bible Survey and Introduction:

Gleason Archer, A Survey of Old Testament Introduction (Moody Press)

F.F. Bruce, The Message of the New Testament (Eerdmans)

Gerald Bray, Biblical Interpretation (IVP)

Old Testament:

The Tyndale Old Testament Commentary Series

New Testament:

The Tyndale New Testament Commentary Series

Early Church History

J.N.D. Kelly, Early Christian Doctrines (HarperOne, 1978)

Prayer

Thomas, W.H. Griffith. The Prayers of St. Paul (Edinburgh: T & T Clark, 1914).

Warren Wiersbe called this book a “devotional gem.” It is out of print, and hard to come by, but will enable you to study the prayers of The Apostle in a new way. Everything Thomas wrote is worth owning.

Carson, D.A. A Call To Spiritual Reformation: Priorities From Paul and His Prayers (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 1992).

This book examines the prayers found in Scripture by the Apostle Paul. It is a revealing look at the depth and wisdom of the apostle’s prayerlife, and will provide great help as a disciple seeks to deepen his or her own prayer life.

Preaching

McIlvaine, Charles P. Preaching Christ: The Heart of Gospel Ministry (Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth, 2003). Banner of Truth’s edition has bound up with this essay by McIlvaine a sermon by Charles H. Spurgeon, “The Subject of Apostolic Preaching”, a sermon on Acts 5:42.

Larsen, David. The Company of the Preachers (Grand Rapids: Kregel, 1998). This is a massive book of nearly 900 pages, but there is much to commend it. Larsen sketches out the names and biographies of some of the most important preachers in the history of Christianity. The bibliography he provides is worth the price of the book.

Service Manuals

The Book of Common Prayer (1662 edition)

I think every Protestant pastor, Anglican or not, should have a copy of this book on his shelf. The influence of this book, alongside the Authorized Version (KJV), on the English language is remarkable and noteworthy. Cranmer was a liturgical genius, and his understanding of the structure of worship services with or without the incorporation of the ordinances is well worth study. The use of the Scriptures in the compilation of this book is enlightening. There are of course later editions, but sometimes later editions depart from Cranmer’s theology.

An Anglican Prayer Book (Preservation Press, 2008)

This is a modern language version of the above classical Anglican 1662 Prayer Book. It also incorporates the Holy Communion services of the 1662 BCP, the 1928 American BCP, and 1962 Candadian BCP.

Segler, Franklin. The Broadman Minister’s Manual (Nashville: Broadman and Holman, 1968)

This book will be helpful for Baptist ministers and other congregational-type church pastors. Segler has a number of other books that are available, including some on worship that are very helpful.

Payne, Earnest A. and Winward, Stephen F. Orders and Prayers For Church Worship (Cary Kingsgate Press, 1960).

Payne and Winward’s volume was written for British Baptist ministers. It is rather hard to come by, especially here in the states. It uses traditional language (thee and thou), and there are aspects of it that deal with British church days that are not typically observed in the USA, but it is still an excellent resource for ordering worship in harmony with the teaching of Paul, that everything might be done “decently and in order.” It is similar to a number of other liturgical resources that were published in the 1940s and 1950s, such as the Scottish Book of Common Order and the Presbyterian Book of Common Worship.

Systematic and Dogmatic Theology

W.H. Griffith Thomas, The Principles of Theology (Classical Anglican Press)

Based on the XXXIX Articles of Religion, but helpful for ministers in many traditions.

T.C. Hammond, In Understanding Be Men (IVP)

This is a basic systematic theology.

Louis Berkhof, Systematic Theology (Eerdmans)

Berkhof is probably not for beginners, but it is a solid work.

E.A. Litton, Dogmatic Theology (T & T Clark)

Litton’s work is a good intermediate systematic theology.

Worship

Blackwood, Andrew. The Fine Art of Public Worship (Nashville: Cokesbury Press, 1939).

I recommend Blackwood highly–though he sometimes deals with topics here that are not as relevant for modern times as they were two generations ago, all his writings continue to have merit and show deep sympathy for the work of the parish pastor.

Ross, Allen P. , Recalling the Hope of Glory (Kregel, 2006)