Most pastors know they should read more. Most of them do not. The reasons are real: a second job, a family, a congregation with needs that do not wait, and a sermon to prepare every week. Reading feels like a luxury when everything else is urgent.
But reading is not a luxury for a pastor. It is part of the job. The pastor who feeds only on what they already know will eventually have nothing new to offer the people they serve. Reading is how you stay ahead of your congregation’s questions, deepen your theology, and keep your preaching fresh.
This guide is for the bi-vocational pastor who wants to read more but cannot figure out how to make it happen.
The Mindset Shift
Stop thinking of reading as something you do when you have time. You will never have time. Start thinking of reading as something you protect time for, the same way you protect time for sermon preparation and pastoral visits.
Reading is not a hobby. It is a discipline. Disciplines require scheduling, not waiting for inspiration.
How Much Should a Pastor Read?
The old standard of a book a week is not realistic for most bi-vocational pastors. A more honest target: one book per month. That is 12 books per year. Over a 20-year ministry, that is 240 books. That is a significant theological education.
If one book per month feels like too much, start with one book per quarter. Four books per year is still four books more than zero.
Instead of tracking books, track pages. Ten pages per day is 3,650 pages per year, which is roughly 10 to 12 average-length books. Ten pages takes about 20 minutes. You have 20 minutes somewhere in your day.
When to Read
The most common answer from pastors who read consistently: early morning, before the day starts. Before the phone, before the email, before the demands of the job. 30 minutes in the morning before anyone else is awake is more reliable than any other time slot.
Other times that work:
- Lunch break at work, if you have one
- Waiting rooms and waiting time (doctor’s office, car line, waiting for a meeting to start)
- The last 20 minutes before bed
- Commute time, using audiobooks
The key is consistency, not volume. Reading 15 minutes every day will produce more than reading for two hours once a week.
What to Read
A healthy pastoral reading diet has four categories:
1. Scripture
This is not optional and should not be counted as part of your reading quota. Read the Bible devotionally, separate from sermon preparation. Read it as a person who needs it, not as a professional who is mining it for content.
2. Theology
Every pastor should be working through substantive theological reading. This does not mean academic journals. It means books that deepen your understanding of God, Scripture, and the Christian life. One theological book per quarter is a reasonable goal.
Starting points: Wayne Grudem’s Systematic Theology (read a chapter at a time over years), D.A. Carson’s The God Who Is There, or Tim Keller’s The Reason for God.
3. Ministry and Leadership
Books that help you do your job better. Church leadership, pastoral care, preaching, counseling, administration. One per quarter.
Starting points: Eugene Peterson’s The Contemplative Pastor, Paul Tripp’s Dangerous Calling, or Thom Rainer’s Autopsy of a Deceased Church.
4. General Reading
History, biography, literature, current events. Pastors who only read ministry books become narrow. Reading broadly makes you a better thinker, a better communicator, and a more interesting person to talk to.
Produces 10 to 12 books per year at average reading speed
Realistic target for a bi-vocational pastor with consistent habits
Scripture, theology, ministry, and general reading for a balanced diet
How to Turn Reading Into Ministry
Reading that stays in your head does not serve your congregation. Here is how to move it from the page to the pulpit and the pastoral visit:
- Keep a reading journal: One sentence per page on what struck you. Review it before sermon prep.
- Mark your books: Underline, write in the margins, fold pages. A marked book is a book you can return to.
- Share what you are reading: Mention books from the pulpit. Recommend them to specific members. Lend your copies.
- Connect reading to preaching: When a book illuminates a passage you are preaching, use it. Cite it. Let your congregation see that you are still learning.
Building the Habit
Start smaller than you think you need to. If you are not reading at all right now, commit to five pages per day for 30 days. That is it. Five pages. Build the habit before you build the volume.
After 30 days, increase to ten pages. After another 30 days, increase to fifteen. By the end of three months, you will have read more than you have in years, and the habit will be established enough to sustain itself.
Related resources: pastoral self-care guide | ministry burnout guide | bi-vocational pastor resources
Not a list of books. One book. Something you have been meaning to read. Put it somewhere you will see it every morning. Read five pages tomorrow. That is the beginning of a reading habit.