Preaching
Conrad Grebel University College, Spring 2017
Professor: Allan Rudy-Froese
Dates for this course: This is an intensive course which meets May 29-June 2, and June 5-7. We will meet each morning from 9-12 am. In addition, on Tuesday May 30 and Tuesday June 6 we will meet in the afternoon as well – from 1-4 pm. Students must attend all classes.
Office hours: I will be available to meet with students individually on most afternoons.
COURSE DESCRIPTION (3 credit hours)
This course explores major issues in homiletics such as biblical interpretation for preaching, embodiment of the sermon, the contextual nature of preaching, and sermon form. Matters such as the place of preaching in worship, the image/role of the preacher, as well as purposes and theologies of preaching will be addressed throughout. Class time will include short lectures, discussions, solitary reflective work, voice/body exercises, and of course listening to and preaching sermons.
OVERVIEW
Preaching is inherently interdisciplinary. Planning for, embodying, and reflecting on the event of preaching requires the preacher to engage in biblical studies, performance and communication theories, theology (systematic, practical, and otherwise), poetics, and liturgics. Preaching is also personal and somatic: in the event of preaching your body is front and center and your voice is on display. Thus, intimately related to integration of various areas of knowledge and practice is the preacher’s own self- and body-awareness, voice, passion, and faith.
Preaching as testimony is the overall theme of this course. This biblical (as well as feminist, postmodern, Anabaptist-Mennonite etc.) image and understanding of preaching – as delineated by Anna Carter Florence, Thomas G. Long and others – characterizes the preacher as a witness or testifier to what God has done, is doing, and will do. Preaching as testimony brings together historical and present images of the preacher such as herald, storyteller, and pastor, but places emphasis on the gospel as gift from God and the preacher’s creative, personal, and vulnerable embodiment in testifying to this gospel. We will explore preaching as testimony (Anna Carter Florence, Thomas G. Long, and others) as we weave together biblical study (Mary Foskett), delivery and embodiment (Teresa Fry Brown, Jana Childers), the forms of the sermon (O Wesley Allen and Paul Scott Wilson), preaching in the context of worship (Yoder, Kropf, and Slough) and the purpose/theology of preaching (Jana Childers et al). This seems like too much, yet these various integrations happen in some fashion for good or for ill in every sermon. What we are attempting in this class is to slow down the process so that we can notice, assess, and develop good habits as we prepare for and embody the sermon.
COURSE OBJECTIVES
- to practice and develop good habits in the interdisciplinary, arduous, yet joyous task of moving from biblical text to embodied sermon
- to understand and experiment with interpreting the Bible with reference the “three-worlds” (Foskett) for preaching
- to appreciate historical shifts in preaching in the last six decades, especially with regard to sermon forms, images of the preacher, and the purposes and theologies of preaching
- to appreciate, internalize, and embody the testimonial nature of preaching
- to increase skill, self-awareness, and self-confidence in sermon embodiment
REQUIRED TEXTS
Allen, O. Wesley, Jr. Determining the Form. Elements of Preaching Series. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2008. ISBN 978-0-8006-0444-8
Carter Florence, Anna. Preaching as Testimony. Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2007. ISBN 978 0664223908
Childers, Jana, ed. Purposes of Preaching. St. Louis, Missouri: Chalice Press, 2004. ISBN 978 0827229976
Foskett, Mary F. Interpreting the Bible. Elements of Preaching Series. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2009. ISBN 978-0-8060-6354-4
Vision: A Journal for Church and Theology 10, no. 2. (Fall 2009). Edited by Steven Schweitzer. Copublished by Institute of Mennonite Studies (AMBS) and Institute for Theology and theChurch (Canadian Mennonite University). Theme: Testimony. (Available through ATLA)
REQUIRED CHAPTERS AND ARTICLES
Required chapters and articles will be available through the library as ebooks and/or on reserve and/or posted on LEARN.
Campbell, Charles L. Preaching Jesus: New Directions for Homiletics in Hans Frei's Postliberal Theology. Eugene, Or.: Wipf & Stock, 2006, chs 5-7.
Childers, Jana. Performing the Word: Preaching As Theatre. Nashville, Tennessee: Abingdon Press, 1998, 36-56.
Eslinger, Richard L. “The Sermon in Four Pages: The Homiletic Method of Paul Scott Wilson,“ in The Web of Preaching: New Options in Homiletical Method, 201- 245. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2002.
Farley, Edward. “Preaching the Bible and Preaching the Gospel.” In A Reader on Preaching: Making Connections, edited by David Day, Jeff Astley, and Leslie J. Francis, 65–74. Aldershot, England:
Ashgate, 2005. This article can also be found in Theology Today 51:1 (April 1994):90-104.
Long, Thomas G. The Witness of Preaching. Second edition. Louisville, Kentucky: Westminster John Knox Press. 2005, 11-51.
Ottoni Wilhem, Dawn. “God’s Word in the World: Prophetic Preaching and the Gospel of Jesus Christ.” In Anabaptist Preaching: A Conversation Between Pulpit, Pew, and Bible, edited by David B. Greiser and Michael A. King, 76-93. Scottdale, Pennsylvania: Herald Press, 2003.
Schlafer, David J. What Makes This Day Different? Preaching Grace on Special Occasions. Cambridge, Mass: Cowley Publications, 1998, 35-45.
Stutzman, Ervin R. “Preaching Grace to Hardworking People.” In Anabaptist Preaching: A Conversation Between Pulpit, Pew, and Bible, edited by David B. Greiser and Michael A. King, 200–213. Scottdale, Pennsylvania: Herald Press, 2003.
Taylor, Barbara Brown. Chap. 10 in Jana Childers’ Birthing the Sermon: Women Preachers on the Creative Process, 153-168. St. Louis, Missouri: Chalice Press, 2001.
Yoder, June Alliman, Marlene Kropf, and Rebecca Slough. Preparing Sunday Dinner: A Collaborative Approach to Worship and Preaching. Kitchener, Ontario: Herald Press, 2005, 21-40 & 123-155.
OTHER RESOURCES
You may wish to consult these reference books as you discover new words and concepts in the world of preaching. They are on the reserve shelf.
McClure, John S. Preaching Words: 144 Key Terms in Homiletics. Louisville, Kentucky: Westminster John Knox Press, 2007.
Wilson, Paul Scott. The New Interpreter's Handbook of Preaching. Nashville, Tennessee: Abingdon Press, 2008.
ASSIGNMENTS
1) Sermon 1 (10 minutes) and sermon rationale – 20%. Create a sermon based on one narrative biblical text and preached in the Four Pages form. When students preach this sermon in class they will provide paper copies of the sermon and the sermon rationale for all classmates for the purpose of feedback and discussion.
2) Sermon 2 (10 minutes) and sermon rationale – 40%. Create a sermon based on one biblical text using any form outlined in Allen’s Determining the Form. Students will send a sermon manuscript and a sermon rationale in Word to the instructor by July 30, 2017.
3) Brief personal essay entitled “My Voice” (600-800 words) – 10%. Drawing on the work of Fry Brown, Childers, and class exercises, tell me about your voice - its history, problems, and potential. I will respond to this essay in a 45 minute personal conversation/voice exploration session with you. You are welcome to join me with a friend or classmate if you like.
4) Purpose(s) of Preaching Essay (1500-2000 words) – 20%. Write an essay on the purpose(s) of preaching based primarily on Jana Childers’ Purposes of Preaching and Anna Carter Florence’s Preaching as Testimony. While you have latitude (your essay can be reflective and personal, thesis-driven, or more review-like) your essay must directly reference at least seven of the articles/chapters that we have explored in this course. Due July 30, 2017.
5) Participation – 10%. This course relies heavily on your capacity to be present in body, voice, mind, and spirit. Attendance in all classes is expected. The other way to say it is that we need everyone here to do what we need to do. Our knowledge and practice of preaching is not a given and not fixed – as though it all comes from books – but something that we will create together.