1 EMP 3307HF/ EMP6307HF PREACHING IN MINISTRY Wednesdays 11-1, 2015 Professor Paul Wilson - Office #212, 416-585-4545; 416-761-1791 (h) paul.wilson@utoronto.ca Graduate Student Assistant: Christine Smaller 416-578-4551 christine.smaller@mail.utoronto.ca Please seek consultation as needed in person, by email or by phone (day or evening). COURSE DESCRIPTION This course offers a survey of preaching in its various dimensions. It offers opportunities to examine various perspectives on preaching and communicating the Word in a fastchanging world. Preaching will be discussed in its postmodern contexts, allowing students to think through a theology of preaching and preaching practices and to go into depth in areas of their own interest. Readings consist of recent articles by leading scholars on a wide range of preaching topics: biblical interpretation, preaching biblical genres, ethics and social justice, rhetoric, poetics (art), special occasions, social locations, sermon forms and functions, church year, the preacher, and theology in and of preaching. The course will follow a seminar and workshop format, covering a range of opportunities and challenges facing preachers in the future. Students will have opportunities to preach in class. Prerequisite: a basic course in Homiletics. The University guidelines apply concerning plagiarism, see: the University of Toronto s Code of Behaviour on Academic Matters, in Appendix A of the Emmanuel Student Handbook 2009-2010 or Appendix III of the current TST BD Handbook. Accommodations: Students with diverse learning styles are welcome in this course. If you have a disability/health consideration that may require accommodations, please feel free to approach one of the insructors and /or the Accessibility Office as soon as possible. It takes time to put disability related accommodations in place. The sooner you meet with a Disability Counsellor at Accessibility Services, the quicker s/he can assist you to achieving your learning goals in this course. COURSE OUTCOMES: Students successfully completing this course will be able to demonstrate the following learning outcomes: (a) in respect of general academic skills Students will be able to utilize various sermon forms. They will be to identify a wide range of issues and resources for help with regard to preaching and its contexts. (b) in respect of the understanding of the content of one or more theological disciplines Students will be better able to integrate the various theological disciplines in relation to preaching. (c) in respect of personal and spiritual formation Students will find their spirituality deepened through greater awareness of the role and action of God in religious discourse.
2 (d) in respect of ministerial and public leadership Students will develop skills with preaching and will learn how their own interests can be applied to preaching. They will grow in offering positive, caring, and frank response to peers. EMP3335 COURSE REQUIREMENTS Students are required to attend all classes (grades will be affected by absence of more than one week), do the readings, participate in class discussions, and for the first half of the course, participate in a small group. The small group will consist ideally of four people and will provide students an opportunity to discuss the class readings, as well as prepare for and practice their first sermons. (A.D. students will form their own small group.) Students are to do the class readings, attend small groups, make one or two (depending on class size) 2-minute presentations on the readings, write sermon evaluations of their peers, preach two sermons, write one book report, and submit a journal. Class readings: some readings are required and some is the student s choice. The two minute presentations: Students are to do the required class readings with a particular view to practical things for preachers to do. A sign-up sheet will indicate which students are responsible each class for a brief 2 minute presentation on practical things to do from the required readings for the day for which you are responsible. Divide the total readings for the day amongst those presenting on the day, so that each required reading is covered (i.e. you may end up presenting only one or two articles). Book Report: These are to be 250-500 words and are to include both appreciative comments and critical assessments. Choose a preaching book of your choice (or Wilson, Four Pages of the Sermon, if you have not read it). Consult with one of the instructors on your book choice. If you need ideas, choose a topic from the textbook and the article will probably suggest a book for further reading. Due by October 7. Small groups: Small groups will meet at a self-determined time and location (normally for 40-50 minutes). Groups should set up a timetable for sermons to be preached to the group. Each student preaches once to the entire class, so priority of scheduling should be given to helping students to prepare for that. The remaining group times are for discussion of book reports, class reading, or relevant preaching topics. Sermons: Students will preach two sermons (one to their small group only and one to the entire class). For class sermons, if you have not previously preached at a funeral or wedding, one of your sermons should be for one of these occasions. Sermons are to be composed with class readings in mind. Weekly sermons normally will be based on the reading topics for that week, using a biblical text from the up-coming Sunday lectionary, but preaching topics from earlier weeks (e.g. funerals) may be carried forward. One sermon is due on the date of class preaching (before or after Reading Week). In any case,
3 one sermon is before Reading Week (October 22); the second one by Nov 26 (unless you are preaching for the class on Dec. 2 or 9). Preaching: Please send by email (or bring to class) a written copy of your sermon to class members and the instructors prior to preaching. This will help overcome possible language issues. Sermon evaluations: Please make two copies, one is given to the preacher the week following the preaching, and one is place in your journal. Journal: The journal is to reflect what you have learned from specific articles in the textbook (i.e. name the articles), class discussions, and evaluations of class sermons. The journal is to be handed in twice: by Reading Week (Oct 22) and the 2 nd last class (Dec 2). Required Textbook: Wilson, Childers, LaRue, Rottman, eds., The New Interpreter s Handbook on Preaching. Nashville, Tennessee: Abingdon Press, 2008. (ordered at Crux) Evaluation: 33.3% sermon 1; 33.3% sermon 2; 33.3% journal and class participation ADVANCED DEGREE EMP6301 COURSE REQUIREMENTS: Advanced Degree students are required to read three extra articles from the textbook each week. They will not do a book report but will do an essay (13-15 pages) on a topic in consultation with the instructor, DUE Dec 9. The course requirements will thus also include class attendance and participation, a 2 minute presentation (as above), one sermon (not two), a journal of reflections on the readings, peer evaluations, and one essay. AD students will form their own small group with requirements as above. Evaluation: 25% sermon; 25% journal and class participation; 50% essay. COURSE OUTLINE Sept 16 Introduction: What do we know about preaching? Show a mini sermon: <http://www.youtube.com/embed/wgneugwvxqu?rel=0> If you were to write a mini sermon on what you believe, at the heart of your faith, what would it be? Sept 23 Do Sermon Forms Matter? Read: Funeral (385) and Wedding (426) plus at least 5 other articles from the Sermon Section (369). Sept 30 The Bible and its Future Read: African American (page 3), Allegory (5), Exegesis (17), Four Senses (28), Hermeneutics (31), Resurrection (106), plus articles on three genres that you have not often preached (65-113).
4 Oct 7 Class Preaching: Funerals and Weddings Oct 14 Are There Key Doctrines for Preaching? Read: 5 articles from the Theology Section (433ff) that you consider central for preaching (read these both appreciatively and critically recognizing that they may be written from traditions other than your own). Oct 21 Class Preaching: Preaching Doctrines (including funeral and wedding sermons) B.D. Students: Journals & book review are due. Oct 28 READING WEEK Nov 4 Faith or Ethics? Social Justice and Diversity in Preaching Read: Five articles of your choice from the Ethics Section (115ff) plus the following from Literary Criticism (141ff): Introduction, Cultural Hermeneutics, Deconstruction, and Postcolonial Criticism A.D. students: essays are due. Nov 11 Class Preaching: Social Justice/ Preaching Morals Nov 18 Preachers as Theological Interpreters of Art/s and Culture Read in the Poetics Section (173ff) Introduction, Arts, Metaphor, Fusion, Video Clips, plus 4 articles of your choice from the Preacher Section (213ff). Nov 25 Class Preaching: Preaching Using Art Dec 2 The Future of Preaching ALL ASSIGNMENTS ARE DUE Read from the Social Location Section (253), Exegesis of the Self, Gender, Race, Ethnicity, Preaching to Children, Preaching to Youth, plus from the Experience Section (291), Emerging Church Preaching, Internet Preaching Forums, Radio, Technology, Television, and Youth Ministry. Class Preaching Hour 2. Dec 9 Class Preaching: Preaching to Specific Age Groups (re: sermon feedback, email to the preachers and to the instructor your responses to the sermons by midnight Dec 11). BIBLIOGRAPHY This is a sampling of recent related literature that may help you to prepare your sermons on specific forms. Further literature is referenced in the textbook articles: Aden, LeRoy and Robert G. Hughes. Preaching God s Compassion: Comforting Those
Who Suffer. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2002. Allen, Ronald J. Patterns of Preaching: A Sermon Sampler. St. Louis: Chalice Press, 1998.. Allen, Ronald. The Teaching Sermon. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1995. Wholly Scripture: Preaching Biblical Themes. St. Louis: Chalice Press, 2004. and Gilbert L. Bartholomew. Preaching Verse by Verse. Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 1999. Allen, Wesley O. Preaching Resurrection. St. Louis: Chalice Press, 2000. Barnes, M. Craig. The Pastor as Minor Poet: Texts and Subtexts in the Ministerial Life. Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2009. Best Funeral Meditations. Lima, Ohio: CSS Publishers, 1998. Best Wedding Sermons. Lima, Ohio: CSS Publishers, 2001. Bisagno, John R. Principle Preaching: How to Create and Deliver Purpose Driven Sermons for Life Applications. Nashville, Tennessee: Broadman and Holman Publishers, 2002. Carl, William J., III. Preaching Christian Doctrine. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1984. Chapell, Bryan. Christ-Centered Preaching: Redeeming the Expository Sermon. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Books, 1994. Clader, Linda L., Voicing the Vision: Imagination and Prophetic Preaching. Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Morehouse Publishing, 2003. Collins, Raymond F., Preaching the Epistles. New York/ Mahweh, N.J.: Paulist Press, 1996. Cox, James. Preaching: a Comprehensive Approach to the Design and Delivery of Sermons San Francisco: Harper and Row, Publishers, 1985. Childers, Jana, ed. Birthing the Sermon: Women Preachers on the Creative Process. St. Louis: Chalice Press, 2001. Fred Craddock, As One Without Authority. Revised and with New Sermons. Third Edition. St. Louis: Chalice Press, 2001 (1979). Elliott, Mark Barger. Creative Styles of Preaching. Westminster John Knox Press, 2000. Erickson, Millard J. and James L. Heflin. Old Wine in New Wineskins: Doctrinal Preaching in a Changing World. Baker Books, 1997. Eslinger, Richard L. A New Hearing: Living Options in Homiletic Method. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1987.. The Web of Preaching: New Options in Homiletic Method. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2002. Farris, Stephen. Grace: A Preaching Commentary. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2003.. Preaching That Matters: The Bible and Our Lives. Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 1998. Florence, Anna Carter. Preaching as Testimony. Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 2007. Grimenstein, Edward O. A Lutheran Primer for Preaching: a Theological and Practical Approach to Sermon Writing. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 2014. Gross, Nancy Lamers. If You Cannot Preach Like Paul Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2002. Hedahl, Susan. Preaching the Wedding Sermon. St. Louis: Chalice Press, 1999. 5
Hilkert, Mary Catherine, Naming Grace: Preaching and the Sacramental Imagination. New York: The Continuum Publishing Company, 1997. Holbert, John. The Ten Commandments: A Preaching Commentary. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2002.. Preaching Job. St Louis: Chalice Press, 1999. Hoezee, Scott. Actuality: Real Life Stories that Matter. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2014. Hughes, Robert. A Trumpet in Darkness: Preaching to Mourners. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1985. and Robert Kyser. Preaching Doctrine for the Twenty-First Century. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1997. Jacobsen, David & Robert Kelly. Kairos Preaching: Speaking Gospel to the Situation. Fortress, 2009. Jeter, Joseph R., Jr., Crisis Preaching: Personal and Public, 1998.. Preaching Judges. St. Louis: Chalice Press, 2003. Jones, Larry Paul and Jerry L. Sumney. Preaching Apocalyptic Texts. St. Louis: Chalice, 1999. Jonker, Peter. Preaching in Pictures: Using Images for Sermons That Connect. Nashville, Tennessee: Abingdon, 2015. Killinger, John. Fundamentals of Preaching. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1985. LaRue, Cleophus J., ed., Power in the Pulpit: How America s Most Effective Black Preachers Prepare Their Sermons. Louisville, Kentucky: Westminster John Knox Press, 2002. Long, Thomas G. Preaching and the Literary Forms of the Bible. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1989. Lose, David J. Preaching at the Crossroads: How the World and Our Preaching Is Changing. Minneapolis, Minnesota: Fortress Press, 2013. Mansell, John S. The Funeral: A Pastor s Guide. Nashville: Abingdon, 1998. McKenzie, Alyce M. Preaching Proverbs: Wisdom for the Pulpit. Louisville, Kentucky: Westminster John Knox Press, 1996.. Preaching Biblical Wisdom in a Self-Help Society. Nashville, Tennessee: Abingdon Press, 2002. Mitchell, Henry.Celebration and Experience in Preaching. Nashville: Abingdon, 1990. Noren, Carol. In Times of Crisis and Sorrow. San Francisco and Toronto: John Wiley and Sons, 2001. Ourisman, David. From Gospel to Sermon. St. Louis, Chalice Press, 2000. Robinson, Haddon W. Biblical Preaching: The Development and Delivery of Expository Messages. Second Edition. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Academic, 2001. Stookey, Laurence Hull. Calendar: Christ's Time for the Church. Abingdon, 1996. Theissen, Gerd. The Sign Language of Faith: Opportunities for Preaching Today, trans. John Bowden, SCM Press Ltd., 1995 [German edition, 1994]. Thomas Troeger, Wonder Reborn: Creating Sermons on Hymns, Music and Poetry. Oxford and New York:Oxford University Press, 2010. Troeger, Thomas H. and H. Edward Everding, So That All Might Know: Preaching that Engages the Whole Congregation. Abingdon Press, 2008. Wardlaw, Don M. ed. Preaching Biblically: Creating Sermons in the Shape of Scripture. Philadelphia: Westminster, 1983. 6
Webb, Joseph M. Comedy and Preaching. St. Louis: Chalice Press, 1998.. Old Texts, New Sermons: The Quiet Revolution in Biblical Preaching. Chalice Press, 1999. Willimon, William H. Willimon and Richard Lischer, eds., Concise Encyclopedia of Preaching. Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 1995. Preaching Without Notes. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2001. Wilson, Paul Scott. The Practice of Preaching. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2007.. Preaching and Homiletical Theory. St. Louis: Chalice Press, 2004.. Preaching as Poetry: Beauty, Goodness and Truth in Every Sermon. 2014.. Setting Words on Fire. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2008., ed. Abingdon Theological Companion to the Lectionary. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2012-14. 7