About the Book
Every Sunday all over the world people rise up and claim to speak in the name of God. It is an astonishing thing to do and an astonishing claim to make. It is small wonder that the sermon has been the focus of debate, discussion and investigation. It has been dismissed as irrelevant in today's culture and has become the butt of numerous jokes and caricatures. Yet the claim persists that these human words in some way can become God's message to these hearers. This collection of twenty-nine articles by international experts in the area of homiletics coincides with the revival of interest in preaching over the last twenty-five years. It is practical without being merely tips for preachers; and it offers the necessary theoretical discussion for anyone who wants to take the art of preaching seriously. No important issue has been omitted and, taken as a whole, the book constitutes a first class introduction to the principles, processes, context and theology of preaching.
Table of Contents:
Contents: Preface; Foreword, Rt Revd Dr N.T. Wright; Six feet above contradiction? An overview, David Day. Part 1 Trends In Preaching: The distance we have travelled: changing trends in preaching, Thomas G. Long; Preaching as reimagination, Walter Brueggemann. Part 2 Preaching Scripture: The use of Scripture in contemporary preaching, Thomas G. Long; Preaching the epistles, David Day; An imaginative 'Or', Walter Brueggemann; Preaching the Bible and preaching the gospel, Edward Farley; Psychological type and biblical hermeneutics: SIFT method of preaching, Leslie J. Francis. Part 3 Structure and Communication: From exegesis to sermon: 1 Corinthians 12:4-6, Fred B. Craddock; Pawn to king four: sermon introduction and communicational design, Thomas G. Long; Preaching and narrative, Peter K. Stevenson; Eleven ways of preaching a non-sermon, Dwight E. Stevenson. Part 4 Personal Qualities and the Preacher: Emerging new standards in the evaluation of effective preaching, Thomas H. Troeger; Preaching and silence, John Killinger; Ethics in the pulpit, Alvin C. Rueter; The Lenten preacher, David Day; Martin Luther King, Jr's preaching as a resource for preachers, Richard Lischer. Part 5 Story, Parable and Imagination: Preaching pictures, Jolyon Mitchell; On preaching a parable: the problem of homiletic method, David G. Buttrick; Story and image in sermon illustration, Richard L. Eslinger; Imagining a sermon, Richard Lischer. Part 6 Preaching and Worship: A sketchbook: preaching and worship, David G. Buttrick; African-American preaching: the future of a rich tradition, Henry H. Mitchell; Homily or eulogy? The dilemma of funeral preaching, John Allyn Melloh. Part 7 The Woman as Preacher: The woman as preacher, Cheryl J. Sanders; Gender and the aesthetic of preaching, Virginia Purvis-Smith; Rescripting their lives and narratives: spiritual life stories of pentecostal women preachers, Elaine J. Lawless. Part 8 Effectiveness and Evaluation: Preaching that drives people from the
About the Author :
David Day was Principal of St John's College with Cranmer Hall, Durham, where he established the Centre for Christian Communication and taught preaching and communication to Anglican and Methodist ordinands. He is the author of A Preaching Workbook. Jeff Astley is Director of the North of England Institute for Christian Education, and Honorary Professorial Fellow in Practical Theology and Christian Education at Durham University. He is the author of Ordinary Theology. Leslie Francis is Professor of Practical Theology in the Department of Theology and Religious Studies, University of Wales, Bangor. His series of books on 'Personality Type and Scripture' apply personality theory to exploring the Gospel readings in the Revised Common Lectionary. Rt Revd Dr N.T. Wright, David Day, Thomas G. Long, Walter Brueggemann, Edward Farley, Leslie J. Francis, Fred B. Craddock, Peter K. Stevenson, Dwight E. Stevenson, Thomas H. Troeger, John Killinger, Alvin C. Rueter, Richard Lischer, Jolyon Mitchell, David G. Buttrick, Richard L. Eslinger, Henry H. Mitchell, John Allyn Melloh, Cheryl J. Sanders, Virginia Purvis-Smith, Elaine J. Lawless, James R. Nieman, Dennis L. Price, W. Robert Terry, B. Conrad Johnston, William O. Avery, A. Roger Gobbel.
Review :
Those whose theology avoids the sharp edges of Calvary and Easter don't want to give the sermon more than grudging admission; those who have made Christianity comfortable allow the sermon to decline into a spiritual pep talk or a vaguely Christianised comment on current affairs. But those who take seriously their calling to listen with every fabric of their being to the living God, and to speak with all their skill of his love and grace in the gospel, find it exhausting but exhilarating. My hope and prayer is that this book will be of real help in challenging the first two approaches, and in encouraging and directing the third.' From the Foreword by the Bishop of Durham, the Rt Revd Dr N. T. Wright 'One of the things that both fascinates and terrifies preachers is advice from other preachers. The fascination comes from the recognition of a common call. The fear comes from our sense of inadequacy in the face of great responsibility. This reader is an outstanding and unique collection from preachers and theologians, which is both fascinating and liberating in showing how the call to preach can be developed in astonishing diversity. It is both practically and theologically stimulating for all who are called to preach good news'. Dr David Wilkinson, Fellow in Christian Apologetics and Associate Director of the Centre for Christian Communication, St Johns College, University of Durham 'This volume skillfully samples seminal resources offered to preachers in the last several years for vocational discernment and renewal. Nourished by insights from distinguished colleagues, homileticians and pastors alike will gain strength for the journey.' Revd Dr David J. Schlafer, Homiletical Formation, Washington, DC. ’At last! Distilled wisdom about preaching today by ’A’ list writers and practitioners.’ Martyn Atkins, Director of Postgraduate Studies, Cliff College, UK '... a welcome addition to my bookshelf and, I expect, several other preachers and homi
