Proclaimer Blog
Reading for ALL your congregation
Right. I'm going to review a kids book. Before you click away, just think about this. You're pastor of a congregation that's made up of adults AND children (I guess). You need to be reading books that are good for your own ministry and spiritual life and be on the ball to recommend to your congregation suitable books for their own spiritual development. That's a different way of thinking for most pastors, which is a shame. If I asked you to recommend a book for early teens on holiness, what would you say? (Don't say Ryle, please). If I asked you for a series which introduced great Christian characters for 8-10 year olds, what would you recommend?
Thought so.
I don't think, as pastors of congregations, we can be ignorant in this area or simply delegate responsibility to our youth workers. We need to be pastoring the whole congregation, and that includes younger Christians.
So here's my help.
- First tip. There are lots of kids books out there and they're not all good. You can't simply send people to the kids section of the local bookstore and know they're getting faithful well-written and applied material. It's true for adults and it's true for kids too. Don't assume.
- Second tip. Start with good publishers. There are good books from what I would call mixed publishers. But, if you're uncertain, it's best to start with those publishers where you can be sure about the theological position they're written from.
- Third tip. Don't imagine that kids can only cope with childish stories. You may be surprised. It's a constant source of frustration to me that Sunday School materials do not (for the most part) deal with, say, epistles. They concentrate on narratives (which, incidentally, are some of the hardest parts of Scripture to teach well to adults, let alone kids). There are books which are more than stories and they're worth searching out.
- Fourth tip. Don't imagine that Horrible History is the only way to go. That particular series is incredible for getting kids into history. I commend it for that, But anyone with any historical knowledge knows that it is not really history. A few gruesome facts about the Tudors does not begin to convey Tudor life. There are more and more Christian books that pick up on that oeuvre. But don't make that (alone) the young church's diet.
So, here's a constructive kids suggestion. I've been reading Simonetta Carr's Lady Jane Grey with one of the Misses R, aged 9. This is a beautifully made book (hardback, landscape),illustrated with timeless pictures (rather than cartoon like graphics). The text is accurate and relatively detailed – this is not a 5 year old's book. But the story is told in such a way as to challenge (we spent some time thinking about whether we should obey God rather than man and followed up by reading Acts 4). I cannot commend this series enough. It's all I think a kids book should be. It's testament to the quality that this is not the first time we've read it and it was requested! As you might imagine with this story, it's not a laugh a minute – no Horrible History toilet stories here. But the story introduces all kinds of themes that are good for young people to know. In fact, we've just come back from a week near Oxford and reading this book helped us talk about the Marytrs Memorial there which Dad insisted on going to see (again!). The books also cover Athanasius, Augustine, Calvin, Owen and others. Reformation Heritage have done a great service to the world of kids books. And if you're in the UK £6.63 from tenofthose is a remarkable price for such a nicely presented hardback. It would be a great gift this Christmas.
And recommending it would almost certainly do your congregation good. Young and old.