Astonished again: Texts for preaching

We wondered what kind of reading ministers rely on for inspiration or help in preaching—apart from reading commentaries on scripture or other materials directly related to the task. Do they draw on certain authors of fiction or nonfiction? Are they influenced by essays, poetry, magazines or children’s literature? Here are some reflections. —Ed.

Putting together words that can break through the sea—sometimes the cesspool—of words in which we live seems a Sisyphean task. I look for help wherever I can get it, so I read.

I read the print edition of the New York Times daily. I encounter news of events, places, people and cultural developments I wouldn’t have known about otherwise. I read the New Yorker, either in print or with its fine iPad app. Stories and vignettes from both these publications often end up in sermons, not because I am looking for material but because they are on my mind as I prepare. The Christian Century is indispensable. Both the Times and the Century curate my reading list.