5 Books Every Church Leader Should Read This Spring

April 28 2026, by Kevin Duncan, 8 min reading time

Spring is the season of renewal. Churches are emerging from Easter, PCC members are settling into their new roles, and there's a quiet sense of possibility in the air. It's also the perfect time to do some reading - those longer evenings when there's still light at 8pm but you're not yet caught up in summer events.

We've pulled together our most-recommended books for church leaders this spring. These aren't trendy management books dressed up with Christian language. They're books that actually help you lead and serve - by deepening your own prayer life, by giving you fresh resources for worship, and by reconnecting you with the heart of why you do this work in the first place.

Whether you're new to church leadership or you've been doing this for decades, there's something here that'll speak to you.

1. Walking In The Light - 100 Prayers For Children (£7.99)

Here's something leaders often overlook - how to pray with children in a way that genuinely works.

If your church has families, young people, or all-age services, Walking In The Light should be on your shelf. David Adam's prayers take children's questions and concerns seriously while being properly prayer-shaped. Nothing trite, nothing dumbed down.

Use it in all-age worship, in children's groups, or in family services. Parents often ask if they can buy their own copy to use at home - which tells you something about how well the prayers resonate.

At £7.99 it's also one of the most generous gifts you can give a young family in your congregation.

2. Prayers For All Seasons - Book 1 (£31.99)

Sometimes you need prayers, and sometimes you need to understand how to pray in a way that actually connects with your congregation.

Prayers For All Seasons Book 1 is a comprehensive resource that moves through the liturgical year. It's for leaders who want to deepen their prayer life and give their congregation access to prayers that feel meaningful, not rote.

What's brilliant about this book is that it works on multiple levels. Use it for personal prayer, for PCC meetings, for public worship, for community gatherings. The prayers are accessible enough that your congregation can engage with them, but thoughtful enough that you discover new layers each time you read them.

It's the kind of book that earns a permanent place on your desk.

3. Complete Collected Intercessions (£28.99)

If your church does intercessions during worship - which most do - this is one of the most useful books you can own.

Complete Collected Intercessions brings together all the intercessions Nick Fawcett has written over the years, many of them revised and amplified. It covers the Christian seasons, the Church year, special services, and a huge range of themes - from peace and justice to family life and times of crisis.

The blessing of this book is that it solves the Saturday-night problem. You know the one - service tomorrow, intercessions to write, and the well is dry. Open this book, and you have a starting point for any theme, any season, any congregation.

Worth every penny just for the headspace it gives you back.

4. Daily Reflections (£22.99)

If you only buy one book for yourself this spring, make it this one.

Daily Reflections is Nick Fawcett's devotional resource for every day of the year - a Bible reading, a meditation, and a prayer, simply structured. It includes a seasonal supplement so it travels with you through Lent, Easter, Pentecost, Advent and the rest of the year.

What makes it different from other daily reading books is the meditation. Fawcett invites you, the reader, to become part of what you're reading - to put yourself in the scene, to feel the weight of the text, to be honest about your response. It's not passive; it changes how you pray.

Many church leaders we know use it as their personal anchor for the year. Pick it up on 28 April and you've got eight months of daily formation ahead of you.

5. Heaven Touching Earth (£9.99)

And finally, a quiet treasure that's easy to miss in a busy catalogue.

Heaven Touching Earth takes the commonplace and ordinary - a kettle boiling, a child's question, a walk to the post box - and uses them as the backdrop for an encounter with God. It's a resource for worship, but more importantly it's a way of seeing all life as prayer.

This is the book to read slowly. A page in the morning, a page on the train, a page before bed. It quietly changes the way you notice things, and over a few weeks you find yourself praying more naturally throughout the day, not just at allotted times.

At £9.99 it's also small enough to pop in a coat pocket - which is, if you've ever tried to fit a moment of prayer into a packed parish week, a meaningful detail.

A reading plan for May

Here's a thought - what if you read these books in a deliberate way over the next month?

• Weeks 1-2 of May: Start with Daily Reflections. The structure means you can pick it up on any day and you're three minutes from a useful encounter with Scripture.
• Weeks 3-4 of May: Open Prayers For All Seasons or Complete Collected Intercessions and work them into your worship preparation. Notice how it changes what you offer your congregation.
• Throughout: Keep Walking In The Light handy for any all-age moment, and keep Heaven Touching Earth somewhere portable - a coat pocket, a bag, a desk drawer.

By the time Pentecost arrives on 24 May, you'll be in a different place spiritually than you are right now.

Why spring reading matters

Spring is when churches feel change in the air. New PCC members are asking better questions. Congregations are thinking about what's next after Easter. Existing leaders are wondering if there's a better way to do things.

Reading - proper reading that challenges and deepens your thinking - is how you figure out what that better way actually is. These books aren't quick fixes. They're investments in becoming a better leader, and a more prayerful one, which makes your church better.

Coming next month - keep an eye out for our Pentecost resources guide and Christian Aid Week ideas, both arriving in May.

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