Resources on Preaching from the Congregational Resource Guide

The African American Pulpit. Valley Forge , PA : Judson Press.

The African American Pulpit is a quarterly journal focused on African American preaching. Each issue has a theme and features sermons by African American preachers, an article on homiletic method, reviews of resources useful for pastors, and interviews with outstanding African American preachers and leaders. The African American Pulpit can help preachers become more reflective and intentional about their own preaching style and content by comparing their own practice to the variety of approaches and styles presented in the journal. All Christians will find this journal instructive for enhancing their own preaching and for gaining increased understanding of African American culture and faith traditions.

Childers, Jana. Birthing the Sermon: Women Preachers on the Creative Process. St. Louis: Chalice Press, 2001.

Jana Childers has collected proposals that describe the preaching processes used by experienced women preachers. This book explores the diverse paths taken by these preachers as each outlines her own process. The authors affirm that preaching is a lonely and challenging task, and some say it can take years of preaching for women to find their own voice in proclamation. Women preachers will find affirmation of the diversity of preaching style among the authors, and all experienced preachers will be challenged through these authors to renew their commitment to prayer, study, culture and practice in their sermon preparation.

College of Preachers
www.collegeofpreachers.org

The College of Preachers, located in Washington, DC , is a center of continuing education serving those called to Christian proclamation. On its Web site, the College lists its many conferences, workshops, and pilgrimages, and posts sermons, book reviews, reading lists, lectures, and essays to assist preachers in their work. Also featured are links to over 60 other Web sites, including divinity schools, seminaries, consortia, study centers, online resources specifically for preachers, and a variety of denominational Web sites.

Graves, Mike. The Sermon as Symphony: Preaching the Literary Forms of the New Testament. Valley Forge, PA : Judson Press, 1997.

Examining ten literary forms in the New Testament, the author proposes that sermons be prepared as "regenerations of the textual event." The thesis: form-sensitive sermons, unlike traditional sermons, should seek to be more experiential than expository. Key questions: What is the text saying? What is the text doing? How can the sermon say and do the same thing? Replete with exercises, the volume illustrates the use of literary forms in sermons by some of today's best-known preachers: Eugene Lowry, Barbara Brown Taylor, Thomas Long, William Willimon, Frederick Buechner, Thomas Troeger, and Donald Musser. This work will serve those seriously interested in creative and faithful biblical preaching.

Long, Thomas G. The Witness of Preaching. Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 1989.

In this book, Long presents the vocation of the preacher as one of witnessing to God's presence in scripture. However, the author says, the preacher does not stand over and against the community but goes to the scripture on behalf of the community and shares with the whole community, the preacher included, what he or she has witnessed. This book offers a wealth of information on how to construct a sermon, with discussion of the statement of focus, the statement of function, beginnings, endings, connections, images, illustrations, and some of the mechanics of delivery. Long's treatments are always helpful and reasonable.

McClure, John S., ed. Best Advice for Preaching. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1998.

In this immensely practical book on the art of preaching, editor John McClure presents the counsel of 27 outstanding Christian preachers. In each chapter, a different author guides the dialogue. William Sloane Coffin and Walter Burghardt discuss theological reflection. J. Philip Wogaman and Barbara Brown Taylor advise an annual retreat to plan sermons for the year. Fred Craddock and Joanna Adams tell how they organize their material. Barbara Lundblad and Virgilio Elizondo describe how they polish a sermon. David H. C. Read and John Vannorsdell explain how the sermon fits into the whole worship experience, and Thomas Ridenhour explores the range of resources available when constructing a sermon. Each chapter includes instructions, advice, and frequently asked questions.

Nieman, James R., Thomas G. Rogers. Preaching to Every Pew: Cross-Cultural Strategies. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2001.

Homiletics professors James Nieman and Thomas Rogers weave the voices of preachers with insights from the social sciences to present a practical theology for preaching in multicultural contexts. Having interviewed pastors who serve in multicultural congregations, the authors discuss what it means for preachers to be neighbors to the rest of the community. They present a case for exploring culture through four frames: ethnicity, class, displacement, and beliefs. Using illustrative narratives, Nieman and Rogers organize their learnings into practical preaching strategies. Most of what they share can enable preachers in every pulpit to touch the hearts of all God's people.

Taylor, Barbara Brown. The Preaching Life. Boston: Cowley Publications, 1993.

Popular speaker, writer, and Episcopal priest Barbara Brown Taylor has written a two-part exposition on the art of preaching. Part One, in chapters with titles such as Imagination, Worship, and Bible, uncovers the author's approach to creating a sermon. The chapter on preaching spells out her approach: “I do not want to pass out knowledge from the pulpit; I want to share in an experience of God's living word.” It is a worthy goal for any preacher, and the sermons included in Part Two both share God's living word and illustrate the ideas explicated in Part One. The Preaching Life gives us some of the finest preaching of today and the opportunity to explore sermon creation with an excellent writer.

The Text This Week
Textweek.com

This Web site provides upcoming Revised Common Lectionary passages with links to resources for study and liturgy for each, along with links to study resources relating to specific passages. Also featured is an index of artwork by biblical theme and a list of movies indexed by spiritual theme.

Tisdale, Leonora Tubbs. Preaching as Local Theology and Folk Art. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1997.

Leonora Tisdale says preachers need to be adept at exegeting their local congregation and its context. Knowing local language, images, metaphors, and rituals produces proclamation that is relevant and transformational. Careful and creative steps guide the reader into a method of exegeting the preacher's context. Following Tisdale's process invites the preacher to speak as both poet and prophet, weaving together the Gospel and local experience into new images and symbols that transform the imaginations and hearts of the hearers. The preacher/prophet measures the adequacy of local stories and understandings in light of the bigger Gospel message. All preachers will gain useful tools from this work.