William Sloan Coffin once said that he set apart one day of the week to read when he was Head of Staff of Riverside Church in NYC. A whole day.
Two truths about this Reading Day goal:
- Bill Coffin never had to wait for the boiler repair person to show up or print the church bulletins. (I once worshipped at Riverside on a Sunday off from my rural church in NY and I burst into tears when I realized there was a team of greeters in matching outfits stationed at every door to welcome people. That’s all they did. But it was one of 40 things I did on a given Sunday morning.) Of course he had time to read books.
- When I shared with my rural congregation that I too would like to have a Reading Day – after they stopped laughing – it never happened because 1) some parishioners seemed to delight in having emergency needs like “where are the light bulbs?” on my Reading Day and 2) why should their pastor get “another day off” to read when they don’t get that in their jobs? and 3) there were actual emergencies on almost every Reading Day.
Now that I’m retired and can read all the day long and sometimes I do.
I have time to read non-fiction with no obvious connections to Church World. I have time to read novels. I can read without writing in the margins that a particular story or quote would make an excellent sermon illustration. Honestly, this is one of my favorite things about retirement.
So, here is my question: Do you read books? Do you read whole books? And are you currently under the age of thirty and and reading whole books? Do you have an occupation that requires you to read whole books? (Kudos to all the engineers who read Ann Patchett.)
A 2024 article in The Atlantic tells the story of a Columbia literature professor whose students couldn’t keep up with the reading. One student confessed that in high school, they had never been assigned a whole book to read. They had read excerpts or chapters of books, but never the whole books.
Was this your high school or college experience? (And I’d love to hear from you educators about whether or not you assign whole books to read.)
And – Boomer siblings – this is not the place to share how you were assigned Remembrance of Things Past over fall break in the 10th grade and kids today are slackers. Stop it.
I wish that young pastors were given the time to read. I wish that congregations understood that their clergy and educators not only need to read all the Andrew Root books but also poetry and fiction and children’s literature. I wish that all parents had the time and inclination to read whole books to their children. I wish we all loved to read.
What are you reading these days?
Image of a favorite writer’s study that I surreptitiously photographed when my preaching group visited their home a couple years ago.
A Church for Starving Artists 
I’m almost 69 and read whole books all the time. I was given the opportunity to pick whatever I wanted to read in a high school English class, so I read “1984”, “Brave New World”, and “Lord of the Flies” during one 6 week period – not bragging, but grateful for the gift of such an extravagant privilege.
And I read “The Hobbit”, “Lord of the Rings”. “Chronicles of Narnia”, and 6 of the 7 Harry Potter novels (he read the 7th on his own – as did I) to my son. Sadly, I don’t think he takes the time to read much (high school math teacher, tutors, etc., to barely make ends meet), but hope springs eternal.
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I am pleased to report that my entire family are readers-me, husband, both sons, daughter in law, two teen granddaughters, brother, sister in law, niece and two nephews. And, yes, we all read entire books! When I retired in 2018 I made a goal to read a book set in every state and every country. I read books from every state pretty quickly. Right now I’m reading “The Kapillan of Malta” by Nicholas Monsarrat, and after I finish this one I will only have 12 more books to complete my goal. When I was teaching fourth grade I assigned many whole books to be read. I must admit I got some criticism from a few parents about my requirements.
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Yes, I’m reading more now than I ever did when I was working in the church (which was 10 years ago).
In high school I did read whole books when that was the assignment. When I got to college I discovered some of my college friends were much more accustomed to reading large assignments having come out of big high schools in large cities (I was from a small town). It was challenging.
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I’m thankful to have grown up in a family of voracious readers! I have always read loads of books, even when I was teaching school, finishing my dissertation, and raising kids. It’s as essential as breathing to me.
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I read A LOT of books, mostly fiction, but this year I have had some really good ones on longevity and maintaining a productive life no matter how old one becomes. I am in and out of the library a couple of times a week, picking up holds, turning in books I’ve either finished or couldn’t finish. I do not like to listen to books. I want silence and I want to READ silently.
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I’m striking a balance of some sort with my current selections: a romance novel by Katherine Center and “Threading My Prayer Rug,” by Sabeeha Rehman. I attended Dr. and Mrs. Rehman’s series on Islam (billed as Islam 101) at Chautauqua in early July, which introduced me to her book. And then there’s the book for my book group, “Heart of a Stranger,” waiting to be read.
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A few years ago I decided to read six books published the year I was born. Even with fiction I learned a lot about the time. I cheated a little by chosing Letter From Birmingham Jail which is more of an essay, but the others were books.
Now I am going to read ten books published in 1926 to mark what would have been my mother’s 100th birthday. I found some classics that I have already read and am still deciding on the list. I am looking for a few nonfiction options that I can still find.
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