Testament displays this readiness to draw on observation of ‘the way the world works’ in order to instruct people in the wisdom of Yahweh, the Creator. Thus in Part 2 we seek ‘wisdom’ related to preaching in a variety of disciplines of thought, while in Part 3 we seek to evaluate what we have found in the light of an explicit theological framework.
Third, this book is for the Church and not only for preachers. The task of discerning how God may be directing us within and through the community of Christian faith, so that we live out our lives with God-shaped meaning and focus, surely belongs to the Church as a whole. Certainly I envisage that many readers will be either experienced preachers, who want to review their ministry in some depth, or students of preaching who have moved beyond the foundational stage to a position of greater critical reflection on the practice. However, a noticeable and welcome feature of church life across the spectrum today is a readiness to widen responsibility for the Church’s fundamental task of attending to the word of God. More people are being given opportunity to voice that word in public – with or without some official authorization. There is a hunger, in some quarters at least, for smaller, more informal gatherings in which the Scriptures may be studied, insights shared, God’s will sought, and some serious theological learning may take place. ‘Believers’ learn to be honest about their doubts and questions and ‘non-believers’ feel safe acknowledging theirs. In such an atmosphere, there is no place for a ‘preacher’ in the familiar sense, yet the word of God has not been silenced. Some would say it has been liberated. It does not, therefore, make sense to me to design a book such as this for ‘preachers’ in a narrowly defined way. There is a rediscovery in all sorts of churches that it is God’s people as a whole who have responsibility for discerning God’s word, in all sorts of ways.
Even when we consider the activity of preaching as traditionally understood, it is vital for others as well as preachers to think through what it means and how it is to be done. On the one hand, there are those who regularly listen to sermons. In vital ways, the meaningfulness of the event depends on them as much as on the preacher.[5] A renewal of the preaching ministry in forms appropriate to today’s cultures will surely entail a much fuller ‘owning’ of the event by churches than has often been the case. On the other hand, there are those responsible for the selection, training, oversight, mentoring and support of those exercising a preaching ministry. Many of these people will of course be preachers themselves, but many will not, nor need they be. They do, however, need sufficient theological equipping to carry out their task with diligence and effectiveness. I hope, then, that this book will be of interest to a range of people within the churches – and even to some who would not consider themselves part of any ‘church’, but take a sincere interest in its role within society, and may, perhaps, be among the prophets through whom the Church may hear God’s voice.
At the outset of the book I want to acknowledge that I bring my own experiences of preaching and listening, of learning and teaching, of encouraging and being encouraged, to the task. I bring also the channels of spiritual and intellectual life which have formed both my perspectives and, no doubt, my prejudices: I am involved, not detached. As I reflect on some of these channels, I smile at God’s sense of humour and those surprise reversals which are so characteristic a feature of how he reminds us of his sovereignty and of our dependence on his grace. I will mention three such paradoxes.
First, there has been the surprise of call. I still remember the terror of my first public speaking engagement: when I was asked by my teacher, aged eight or nine, to say a word of thanks to a visiting speaker in front of my classmates. It was at short notice, and I had no idea what was expected. As I recall, the teacher relented (perhaps having noticed my confusion), and I was allowed to go up to the visitor and convey the thanks in private. I thank God for the amazing privilege of being called to preach, and for building my confidence, but also for constantly reminding me that I could never do it apart from dependence on him.
Second, there has been the surprise of denomination. An Anglican born and bred, as an adult I have always deeply valued this heritage as a home in which evangelical faith, biblical spirituality, catholic sensibility and intellectual freedom may flourish. Yet for the longest period of my working life I have been based in a Baptist community, which I have discovered to be most conducive to the very same things, with – of course – a distinctive twist. Such is the twinkling of the kaleidoscope of God’s people.
Third, there has been the surprise of academic specialism. After three years’ intensive research in New Testament studies, I found myself in a job which entailed the teaching and training of preachers. Now that I have the special joy of teaching both preaching and New Testament, I can look back and see what an unexpected, gracious enrichment by God it has been to have spent over a decade focused on the strange and oft-despised vocation and event of preaching. I truly feel as if nothing has been lost in that time, and much has been gained.
This is something of the particular mixture of experience I bring to this book, but I am very conscious that it owes far more to the giants, past and present, on whose shoulders I stand. Although there will certainly be serious explorers of preaching to whom I do not attend as they deserve, I trust that the process which follows will act at least as a map of the territory, and that preachers and others will be helped and refreshed as they explore the land it seeks to open up.
Stephen I. Wright
Spurgeon’s College, London
Holy Week 2010
[1] Richard R. Osmer, 2008, Practical Theology: An Introduction, Grand Rapids: Eerdmans. On the significance of the development of the discipline of practical theology for preaching, see Thomas G. Long, 2005, The Witness of Preaching, 2nd edn, Louisville: Westminster John Knox, pp. ix–xi. For preaching as a Christian ‘practice’ see Thomas G. Long and Leonora Tubbs Tisdale (eds), 2008, Teaching Preaching as a Christian Practice, Louisville: Westminster John Knox.
[2] For example, David Day, 1998, A Preaching Workbook, London: SPCK.
[3] See for example Ian G. Stackhouse, 2004, The Gospel-Driven Church: Retrieving Classical Ministry for Contemporary Revivalism, Milton Keynes: Paternoster; John E. Colwell, 2005, Promise and Presence: An Exploration of Sacramental Theology, Milton Keynes: Paternoster.
[4]On these developments see, for instance, Eddie Gibbs and Ryan Bolger, 2006, Emerging Churches: Creating Christian Communities in Postmodern Cultures, London: SPCK; Andrew Walker and Luke Bretherton (eds), 2007, Remembering Our Future: Explorations in Deep Church, Milton Keynes: Paternoster; Robert E. Webber, 2008, Ancient-Future Worship: Proclaiming and Enacting God’s Narrative, Grand Rapids: Baker.
[5] See David J. Schlafer, 1992, Surviving the Sermon: A Guide for those who have to Listen, Cambridge, MA: Cowley; 2004, Playing with Fire: Preaching Work as Kindling Art, Cambridge, MA: Cowley; Roger E. Van Harn, 2005, Preacher, Can You Hear Us Listening?, Grand Rapids: Eerdmans.
part 1
Introduction
In the first part of the book, we will examine the variety of events which we call ‘preaching’. We cannot begin the task of analysing preaching, discussing its theological foundations, or exploring how it should be practised in the Church today, without some overview of what it is exactly that we are talking about.
Osmer describes this stage of the reflection process as ‘The Descriptive-Empirical Task: Priestly Listening’.[1]
