Craft of Preaching

I know what you’re thinking, Dear Working Preachers. Five weeks of John 6. The bane of a preacher’s existence. Wishing you had taken a vacation, …

Preaching in a spiritual mode, as the Rev. Luke Powery puts it, is preaching with an awareness of the spiritual, homiletical tradition, with the way we …

My preaching turned to food around eight years ago when I grew tired of visiting members of my church in the hospital for diet-related illnesses. I wanted …

Deserted places are critical places. They are not always comfortable, although here in Mark Jesus seems to imply that they are. But that would be a grand …

In preaching Paul, the Rev. Otis Moss III describes his experience of immersion to the culture and politics of the era the more he reads into the Pauline …

I have a confession: I have had the tendency, throughout my life, to be the type of person where when things get too hard, I quit.

It’s not something …

Here’s the thing, Dear Working Preachers. We all know that Mark’s Gospel is the Reader’s Digest Condensed Version of the Jesus’ …

The Apostle Paul's writing in 1 Corinthians is discomforting to the Rev. Michael Brown in part because it somehow deals with a pastor who is angry at the …

The first time I cried listening to the radio (though certainly not the last) I was listening to Ira Glass tell the story of a dad who made Santa so real …

It’s no accident that Jesus’ rejection in his hometown synagogue immediately precedes the mission of the “twelve.” “The kingdom …

Michael Curry speaks on the challenges and opportunities of preaching through the Revised Common Lectionary summer series on John 6, the Bread of Life. …

As a preacher, I realize I should open with some things we all agree on, build up some rapport, and gain your trust first. Then, once I've been there for …

We preachers are intercalators. Maybe at some point in time, we learned to be so from Mark. This is Mark’s specialty, of course -- inserting one story …

Using an imagination notebook when studying the scriptures can be an effective tool in preaching, especially because the preacher will be able to interpret …

Transitions matter.

“On that day” -- on what day, exactly? Inquiring minds want to know, Mark.

Well, on the same day, as it turns out, that …