By Fr. Mark Perkins
Here at St. Alban's we are moving our parish library into a larger and more beautiful space, with new furniture, floor-to-ceiling shelves... and more books! Our Cathedral Dean, Fr. Ralph Waterhouse, consequently tasked me with putting together a "wish list" of books for the new library, with the goal of building a solid parish resource not only for parishioners but also potentially for seminarians, given the increasing trend towards distance learning in seminaries.
With the help of others, I have started to do just that. In doing so, I realized such a list could be a helpful resource for other parishes (not to mention ambitious individuals!). Eventually I plan to post the finalized list permanently under the "Education" section of the website (though with the recognition of the need for regular updates), but before doing so I wanted to consult the broader Earth & Altar community for comments and suggestions.
You can find the current list here, and you can add your suggestions by typing directly into the document (or by commenting below).
A few comments:
The commentaries section is a little sad and could use some help.
I chose not to include a list of books for children on this list but am compiling one separately.
Likewise, even though fiction and poetry are critical for spiritual formation and the developing of a theological imagination, I decided that including these would be distracting. I am compiling a separate list and may post that for comment later.
What are we missing?
What do we have that we should not have?
Would you alter or add to the categories?
Fr. Mark Perkins is Curate at St. Alban's Anglican Cathedral in Oviedo, Florida and Executive Editor of Earth & Altar.
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