Craft of Preaching

Tractor tilling field
Dear Working Preacher
To Till It and Keep It?

Though my primary vocation is teaching and learning about the biblical text, as you may remember from [...]

Woman in foggy landscape clutching sweater over mouth
Culture
The Lectionary Keeps the Score

What I remember most about Ash Wednesday 2020 was the [...]

Worship service with singers holding music
Worship
Poets as Preachers

Congregations love to sing the songs of our faith. But do we recognize this singing as proclaiming [...]

Ganglilonga Rock, Tanzania
Dear Working Preacher
Reasons to Be Joyful

There are lots of mountains in the Gospel of Matthew. Jesus is tempted by Satan on one [...]

Women laying hands on woman wearing green shirt.
Dear Working Preacher
But I Say to You

“You have heard it said … but I say to you” is a homiletic all its own. [...]

Neon sign:
Sermon Development
Stories We Tell One Another

I recently finished work on an MFA in Creative Writing—that is, I graduated with a [...]

Woman singing to a crowd
Dear Working Preacher
Prophetic Singing

During the deadly blizzards in Buffalo last December, one man whose life was in peril from the [...]

Man standing on shattered highway after earthquake
Dear Working Preacher
How Not to Be Shaken

To have this week’s texts before me, it might seem an odd choice to write on the [...]

Colorful bowls in marketplace in Jerusalem
Sermon Development
First Words: What the Beatitudes Tell Us about Jesus as a Preacher

“Guess what the first words [...]

The Isenheim Altarpiece depicts John the Baptist pointing at the crucified Christ.
Dear Working Preacher
Good News Delivers Us

Dear Working Preacher, A belated and blessed New Year and Epiphany to you. And thank you for [...]