Journal: Southeastern Theological Review
Volume: STR 16:1 (Spring 2025)
Article: My Pulitzer Project: A Personal Reflection On The Benefits Of Reading Fiction For Ministry Leaders
Author: Adam Groza

STR 16:1 (Spring 2025) p. 73

My Pulitzer Project:
A Personal Reflection On The Benefits Of Reading Fiction For Ministry Leaders

Adam Groza

Gateway Seminary

Introduction To The Pulitzer Project

These days I love to read fiction, but it hasn’t always been that way.

Like many pastors and theological educators, for many years my bookshelf was filled primarily with non-fiction books. Shelves in my home and office were lined with exactly what you’d expect to find: commentaries, biographies, monographs, and other scholarly books related to philosophy of religion (my area of specialization). It saddens me to admit that for many years I didn’t see the value of fiction. I read only what had been required in the genre during high school and college, and thought that fiction was (quite frankly) a waste of time.

I’m not sure when my thinking began to change, but at some point, it dawned on me that I should read more works of fiction. Reading fiction initially was a means to talk with people in my California community, most of whom were not reading about theology, ministry, and philosophy. As my kids got older, I wanted to be a good example of someone with a balanced diet of reading. If I was going to encourage my kids to read fiction and engage them in conversation about the genre, I was going to need to develop a taste for it.

Once committed, I faced an initial obstacle: Where to start? Walking into a bookstore and choosing a work of fiction is daunting. It’s usually the largest section in the store. Since you’re not supposed to judge a book by its cover, I didn’t have much to go on. But then I noticed that on certain book covers was a gold star indicating that the book had won the Pulitzer Prize. Literary experts had already judged the book to be worthy of reading!

And that’s how it started.

For the past ten years, I have been reading every book awarded the Pulitzer Prize in fiction. I don’t read the winners chronologically but vary books by theme, author (there are a few repeat winners), and page length. Candidly, some of these books are very, very long. Unlike other awards,

STR 16:1 (Spring 2025) p. 74

a Pulitzer is not given every year. The Pulitzer is only given to a work of fiction believed to meet the standards of the award.

In this way the Pulitzer Award is unlike the Oscar for Best Picture. The best film on any given year gets the Oscar. It might not be a great film, but if it’s the best film that year, it gets the Oscar. The Pulitzer doesn’t get awarded if no book is believed to meet the prize standards by the judges. As a result, reading Pulitzer winners for fiction has been a reliable guid...