Ministering Undercover: A Survey of Church Librarians
Pens outmuscle swords, and books can help people in ways sermons cannot. Here are six secrets of developing a library that ministers.
Marshall Shelley
January 1, 1983
Pens outmuscle swords, and books can help people in ways sermons cannot. Here are six secrets of developing a library that ministers. Good books are like close friends-they wait patiently to speak until you're ready to listen. No hasty words escape their covers until you open the pages. They're willing to repeat themselves as often as necessary. If you want them, they're never asleep. If you misunderstand, they don't scold. If you're ignorant, they don't laugh. They're steady and reliable-they won't change from one day to the next. Ever wonder at the fact that the apostle Paul, with one of the world's most fertile and inspired minds, asked his friend Timothy to bring him his cloak and "the books, especially the parchments"? Apparently not even Paul could merely meditate, think lovely thoughts, and write inspired prose. In a damp jail cell, he needed a cloak for his body and books for his mind. Like friends, books can bring comfort, shape habits, and mold character. They have the power to inflame, inform, and inspire. But for that to happen, the books must first be opened. And there's the problem for church libraries. Too often the church library is only a dusty depot of books discarded from someone's attic. Or perhaps the library showcases the latest titles, but no one uses them, and thus the books serve only as expensive wallpaper. Lost is the potential ministry that happens when people learn from godly writers who've published their collected wisdom and experience. To address this problem, LEADERSHIP surveyed nearly 200 church librarians to discover effective ways to make the library a ministry, not a misery. The responses were full of innovative ideas, but even more significant was the librarians' perseverance. Church librarians ...
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