The Peoples' Sermon

Preaching as a Ministry of the Whole Congreagation

Shauna K. Hannan

• Publisher: Fortress Press
• Year: 2021
• Print ISBN: 9781506466934
• eBook ISBN: 9781506466941
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Christian Ministry

The proclamation of the gospel is the responsibility of the baptized rather than the privilege of the ordained. Preaching is not a solo endeavor. It is a communal practice, a ministry of the whole congregation that is most faithful when the process is shared.

In The Peoples' Sermon, Shauna K. Hannan argues that it is no longer faithful for a preacher to craft a sermon in isolation, step into "the pulpit" (literally or metaphorically) on Sunday morning, offer a one-sided monologue, and on Monday start all over, alone, with the process of researching and writing in preparation for the following Sunday.

Hannan's goal is to create vital worshipping communities where all know and live out their roles in the preaching ministry of the congregation, where both clergy and laity are empowered and equipped in their roles before, during, and after the sermon. She encourages readers to reflect on what preaching is and why the church engages in this practice, and to explore various roles in the preaching ministry of the congregation. She guides readers and their communities through a process that equips hearers to fulfill their active roles in the preaching ministry of the congregation.

The Peoples' Sermon dares to suggest that preaching is most faithful when it is collaborative. Pastors do not own the pulpit; they steward it.

1

What Is Preaching?

Recall the last time you attended worship as a congregation member. Try to remember the moments right before the sermon, when you were listening to the reading of the gospel, or singing a hymn, or praying, perhaps. As you participated in this liturgical moment and anticipated the sermon, can you identify what you were thinking? What were you feeling? Were you hoping for anything in particular? What were your expectations? A response such as “that depends” to any of these questions makes perfect sense. Indeed, the way we enter into worship depends upon how our week has been, how our children are acting next to us in the pew, how the Scripture readings strike us, and even whether we trust the person who is about to preach. So, yes, it depends. But in general, consider your typical thoughts, feelings, hopes, and/or expectations as the sermon begins. Now anticipating the next time you will hear a sermon, how might you respond to the questions? As the sermon is about to begin . . .

• ✴ What will you likely be thinking?
• ✴ How will you likely be feeling?
• ✴ What might you be hoping for?
• ✴ What will you be expecting?

Your responses to these questions begin to clarify your understanding of what preaching is and why you think the church includes this practice in worship. If you noted that you hope to gain an understanding of the Scripture readings that were just read, then you might think preaching aims to teach something about the Bible. If you wrote that you expect to be guided in your life of discipleship in the coming week, then you might think preaching has something to do with morality and ethics—that is, how Christians are to live in this world. If you identified feelings of dread or thoughts that the next ten to twenty minutes will have nothing to do with you and your life, then, of course, you might consider preaching to be irrelevant, boring, annoying, or something to put up with or the part of worship you would like to see eliminated. If you hope that the sermon will comfort you in your grief, then perhaps your faith assures you that the Holy Spirit accompanies you no matter your situation in life. If you hope to be motivated to get involved in addressing the social injustice rampant in your community, then you might acknowledge the power of prophetic proclamation to transform lives, including yours.

Many of us have taken for granted preaching and its place in worship and have never thought to consider these questions. “We’ve just always done it that way,” some might say. This chapter encourages you to reflect on your setting’s preaching ministry and your role in it. In doing so, you will be engaging in homiletics—that is, the theological work of reflecting on the art of preaching. By the end of the chapter, you will be able to identify your own understanding of what preaching is and even to assert what you would like preaching to be.

Keeping in mind your responses to the questions above, write your definition of preaching.

Preaching is _________________________________________________________________________________

Let’s call what you’ve written your “working” definition of preaching, since you have the freedom to tweak/amend/upend/rewrite this definition as you read through this book and beyond.

You are in good company in the struggle to write a succinct and clear definition, for many others have attempted to define this multifaceted and adaptable practice we call preaching. Consider this late twelfth-century definition found in the homiletics manual De Arte Praedicatoria (The Art of Preaching, 1199) written by theologian and homiletician Alan of Lille. Preaching is “the manifest and public instruction in faith and morals, zealously serving the information of [humankind], proceeding by the narrow path of reason and the fountain of authority [Holy Scripture and the writings of the Fathers].”1 Scholars have acknowledged this as the first formal definition of preaching. What, if anything, in this definition resonates with your experience? How is this definition different from your definition of preaching?

According to Alan of Lille’s definition, preaching has a didactic component; it instructs, it teaches. More specifically, it teaches something that has to do with faith and morality (what one believes and how one lives). Preaching is in service of humankind. This definition also recognizes that a twofold authority is at work: the Holy Scriptures and the writings of the early church fathers. Out of this definition, we get answers to questions such as the following:

• ✴ What is the function of preaching?
• ✴ What is the content of preaching?
• ✴ To whom is preaching directed?
• ✴ Who or what does the practice of preaching serve?
• ✴ What authorities are at work in preaching?

Consider how your working definition assists you in responding to any or all of these questions. Don’t worry if it doesn’t yet, but do notice where it does. Of course, feel free to add to or amend your definition if any of these questions spark something for you.

Preaching is ________________________________________________________________________________

Human’s Role in Preaching

Now consider these questions:

• ✴ Where in your working definition do you fit into the picture? What is your role?
• ✴ Where do others fit into that picture? What is their role?
• ✴ How do you and these “others” connect with one another, if at all?

Your responses to these questions help identify the anthropology at work in your understanding of preaching.

The assumed anthropology in some preaching definitions emphasizes the role(s) of the preacher. For example, preaching professor and writer Ronald J. Allen asserts that “the calling of the preacher is to help the congregation move toward a Christian interpretation of the world. The preacher wants to help the congregation learn to think, feel, and act from the perspective of the gospel.”2 Another scholar and writer, Pablo Jiménez, emphasizes the role of the ordained, since his definition integrates many disciplines in a seminary curriculum: “Preaching, then, is an interdisciplinary work where study and interpretation of the Bible meet with systematic theology, the history of the church, Christian education, pastoral care, and speech. Therefore, preaching is an exercise of theological and pastoral integration.”3

Other definitions highlight the role(s) of the listeners. Recall Barbara Brown Taylor’s definition in the introduction above in which she clearly indicates that congregation members play a key role along with the preacher: “Preaching is not something an ordained minister does for fifteen minutes on Sundays but what the whole congregation does all week long.”4 Herman Stuempfle, too, recognizes the effective power at work in the important role of “lay amplifiers scattered in every corner of society.” Because “the preacher’s voice by itself has limited carrying power,” it is the listeners of the sermon who, in turn, “incarnate [God’s] grace and truth in the whole range of their common life.” Stuempfle even claims, “the first business of the individual preacher is to enable the Church to preach.”5

If your definition has not yet identified the role of the preacher or the hearer, you may want to add something to your definition. These additions could be descriptions of the roles in your current situation or what you have imagined the roles should be. Next, you’ll want to consider where God fits into the picture.

God’s Role in Preaching

Does God (as Trinity or as one of the three persons—creator or Jesus or the Holy Spirit) have a role in the practice of preaching? If so, how do you explicitly identify that role? Your responses to these questions will help you identify the theology at work in your understanding of preaching. Take, for example, this statement by Mary Donovan Turner: “The purpose of preaching is, as it was for the prophets and as it was for Jesus, to disrupt life so that a space can be created, a space in which the Holy Spirit can work, a space in which the community can rethink, revisit priorities, or receive.”6 Turner acknowledges that the Holy Spirit’s active role in preaching is the same as it was in previous eras, when the prophets and Jesus himself preached. First, the Holy Spirit works in life’s disrupted spaces. Second, the Holy Spirit and humans are working together in the same space. Indeed, to say that God works through humans is a profound theological statement. Turner’s theology of proclamation is clear.

Stuempfle makes a theological claim when he says that “the Word” speaks through the preacher’s words and then through the words of the listeners as they move out into the world. “The Word” itself has agency through human communication. Such efficacy is at work in Stuempfle’s Lutheran understanding of preaching, that it is nothing less than a means by which God chooses to impart God’s grace (i.e., “a means of grace”). That too is a profound theological claim.

Already we have some indication that Christian proclamation is collaborative in various ways—first, between God and God’s beloved creation, and, second, among God’s beloved children in their various roles.

Shifts in Theories and Practices of Preaching

While there is no one definitive definition of preaching, over time certain emphases have appeared. In fact, the definitions, purposes, and practices of preaching have taken some dramatic turns over the centuries, as outlined by Lucy Atkinson Rose in her book Sharing the Word: Preaching in the Roundtable Church. Rose offers a thirty-thousand-foot flyover summary of three main homiletical strands (traditional, kerygmatic, and transformation) and their distinctive characteristics (both theoretically and practically), distinctions that are at times stark and other times subtle. Each strand has aimed to be faithful for its time and still has proponents today.

Traditional Preaching

According to Rose, traditional preaching, with its aim to win consent from the congregation to a truth claim, enjoys the longest-standing commitment. When persuasion is the goal, an emphasis on the use of rhetoric is foundational. On Christian Doctrine (Book IV in particular), often considered the first homiletical textbook, is instructive. In it, fourth-century bishop of Hippo, Augustine (354–430 CE), outlines how one might employ classical rhetoric for the purposes of Christian preaching. The dominance of this homiletical voice for numerous centuries is evident in the most common homiletics textbook used well into the twentieth century, John Broadus’s On the Preparation and Delivery of Sermons. For Broadus, the preacher’s main goal is “to tell people what to believe and why they should believe it,”7 an...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Contents
• Preface
• Introduction
• 1. What Is Preaching?
• 2. Why Preach?
• 3. The Case for Collaboration
• 4. Feedforward: Collaborative Sermon Preparation
• 5. Feed: Stewarding the Pulpit
• 6. Feedback: Beyond Ego Strokes and Ego Strikes
• 7. Next Steps: Putting It All Together
• Appendix A: Sample Letters to Congregation Members
• Appendix B: Sample KWHL Chart
• Appendix C: Sample Feedback Forms
• Notes