RECENTLY ON SOCIAL MEDIA, a friend of mine admitted his initial insecurity as a younger preacher in a predominantly African American church because he did not practice the traditional Black church preaching techniques of âwhoopingâ or âtuning up.â He said that he eventually came to accept that preaching with authenticity and clarity would serve him better than trying to mimic those traditional homiletical norms, which he did not feel he could embody authentically. Of course, since musicality is perhaps the most distinctive quality of the techniques my friend referenced, his preaching may seem less âmusicalâ without them. Yet I wonder if there may still be a healthy measure of musicality in my friendâs preaching despite his eschewal of some of the more overtly musical phenomena that characterize the predominant homiletical style of his ecclesial tradition. Perhaps my friend has more musical instincts than he knows, if only he were given more tools to identify them.
This chapter will explore a variety of musical-homiletical methods, situating the phenomenon of âwhoopingâ among a much wider range of options for integrating musicality into preaching. Preachers should find inspiration in knowing that there is more than one model for integrating musical instincts into the practice of preaching.
PREACHING AND THE ARTS
The practice of Christian preaching has a long history of dialoguing with other artistic disciplines. The most popular and longstanding conversation partner is most certainly the art of rhetoric, chiefly as developed in the ancient Greco-Roman oratorical tradition.1 Ever since Augustine rigorously defended the use of rhetoric in his classic homiletics textbook, On Christian Doctrine, preachers have been urged to carefully consider not only what to say but also how to say it. This necessarily involves artistic considerations and aesthetic judgments.2 If one is to admit the necessity of âarming oneself,â as Augustine so vividly pictures it, to defend truth against falsehood through aesthetic training,3 then a flourishing of dialogue between homiletics and other artistic disciplines seems almost inevitable.
However, as Lucy Lind Hogan notes, the practice of preaching has not always had an easy relationship with art and aesthetics, for at least three reasons. The first reason, according to Hogan, is the enduring opinion that the truth of the gospel should be so compelling in and of itself that it should not need artful presentation. Secondly, there is often a distrust of imagination and creativity, which are seen as dangerous tools in the hands of a fallen humanity. The third reason, Hogan writes, is the fear of paying too much attention to the desires of the listener, which could lead to an erosion of respect for Godâs revelation.4 Influential voices of modern times have voiced similar concerns about artistic considerations factoring too prominently in the practice of preaching. For instance, in an 1866 lecture on what it takes to be a great preacher, the theologian Horace Bushnell stated, âIn preaching . . . the artistic air kills everything.â5 A more contemporary homiletician, David Buttrick, is similarly reticent to label preaching an art, preferring the term âcraftâ instead.6
Despite these lingering concerns, however, many North American preachers and homileticians have warmed considerably in recent years with respect to homiletical appropriations of the arts. Some credit for this greater openness is likely due to H. Grady Davisâs influential preaching manual, Design for Preaching, which compares novice preachers to novices of any other art form and counsels them to cultivate âall the sense and skill [they] canâ in developing into skillful practitioners of the art of preaching.7 The sermon itself, Davis argued, should be regarded as a âliving organismâ that springs naturally from the material at hand, âshowing nothing but its own unfolding parts.â8 Championing this âorganicâ understanding of sermon form, Davis freely compared preaching to other arts, especially those arts that unfold as a movement in time: music, drama, and storytelling.9
Inspired by such comparisons, and with a renewed commitment to an artistic understanding of preaching, an interdisciplinary conversation has emerged among homileticians who are eager to apply the study of other arts to homiletical theory.10 For instance, in Performing the Word: Preaching as Theatre, Jana Childers draws on dramatic theory and selected dramatic performance practices in order to develop a more âlivelyâ homiletic.11 Alyce McKenzie and Sondra Willobe have similarly ventured into the world of creative writing in search of insights that can help nurture the artful use of language in preaching.12 Charles Bartow and Clayton Schmit have explored the power of poetic devices for deepening the artistic potential of homiletics,13 and Thomas Long and Mike Graves have proposed homiletical strategies drawn from the study of the literary and generic forms of the Bible.14 These many conversations between homiletics and other artistic disciplines have borne much homiletical fruit in recent decades.15
PREACHING AND MUSIC
If, as this book argues, musicality is a powerful yet underappreciated aspect of the overall aesthetic, rhetorical, and theological import of sermons, one might also expect to find a burgeoning dialogue between music and preaching, which is indeed the case.16 Several studies comparing music and preaching have emerged in recent years, and each represents a unique methodological approach to this interdisciplinary conversation. While each methodology has certain advantages, there are also unique challenges and drawbacks to be noted. The remainder of this chapter will assess the current state of the conversation by examining eight major contributions to the musical-homiletical conversation, grouping them into four major methodologiesâor four models. This will provide a starting point for the musical homiletic developed in subsequent chapters of this book. An examination of existing studies will help to identify some of the most prominent themes and insights that emerge when comparing the art of music to the art of preaching. The musical homiletic advanced in this book will draw on many of the themes and insights of these extant works, but will ultimately pursue a unique course.
Music in preaching: Thomas Troeger and Luke Powery. Methodologically speaking, perhaps the most straightforward method for framing the conversation between music and preaching is that of Thomas Troeger, developed most fully in Wonder Reborn: Creating Sermons on Hymns, Music, and Poetry.17 This method involves the inclusion of performed musicâwith or without textsâin the sermon itself, and therefore might be referred to as the music in preaching method.18 The driving issue behind Troegerâs method is the âspiritual barrenness of a church that is without art,â having needlessly repudiated the spiritual and religious roots of beauty.19 Therefore, Troeger proposes a method by which preachers can reawaken wonder in the lives of their congregants, helping people to âintuit and experience anew the divine realities to which the Bible gives witnessâ through the inclusion of hymns and music in the actual preaching event.20
The music in preaching method advocated by Troeger goes beyond the oft-used homiletical technique of quoting hymns or other musical works for the purpose of illustration. Rather, Troeger presents âa particular way of using these arts as a resource for the very substance of what a preacher says.â21 Hymns and musical compositions can thus âserve as the âtextâ for a sermon in the same way that preachers regularly use a passage or theme from the Bible.â22 Not only might this method serve as a vital means of reawakening wonder in a spiritually starved church; it might also help the Western church to become reacquainted with âits own treasure house of great artworks that are inspired by the gospel and alive with the Spirit.â23 These works are too often ignored, Troeger believes, although they represent a vital source of spiritual insight. Incorporation of hymns and musical compositions into preaching can help reacquaint the church with its own spiritual resources, and more importantly, can ultimately teach both the preacher and the congregation how to be more attuned to the movement of the Spirit in the soundscape of their lives.24
One of the many examples Troeger provides of this approach is an original sermon based on two âtexts,â a biblical text (Jer 8:22-9:1) and an African American spiritual (âThere Is a Balm in Gileadâ). The sermon begins by lamenting the contemporary state of our world, with its religious violence and spiritual hunger. From there, Troeger examines features of the text from Jeremiah, with its haunting question, âIs there no balm in Gilead?â Troeger then uses the spiritual âThere Is a Balm in Gileadâ itself as a sort of musical midrash, an interpretive key for answering the question raised by the Jeremiah text.25 Noting the oppressive conditions in which the spiritual arose, Troeger presents this as an example of âthe ability of enslaved Africans to transform sorrow into joy.â26 This then leads into a concluding section in which a single voice or instrument begins to sound the melody of âThere Is a Balm in Gilead,â while Troeger speaks over the music, demonstrating the possibility of moving from the question (âIs there a balm in Gilead?â) to the affirmation (âThere is a balm in Gilead.â) in our contemporary context. At the conclusion of the sermon, the whole congregation joins together in singing the spiritual.27 Music and preaching are thus paired in the most concrete possible way, with the inclusion of performed music in the sermon itself. Troegerâs text includes many other examples of this music in preaching method, with the musical selections deriving mostly from the corpus of Western classical, âsacredâ music.28
A similar method to Troegerâs is found in Luke Poweryâs Dem Dry Bones: Preaching, Death, and Hope.29 However, whereas Troeger incorporates a moderate range of musical genres, from J. S. Bach to African American spirituals, Powery focuses exclusively on the spirituals as a resource for homiletics. Poweryâs primary thesis is that the African American spirituals, understood as âmusical sermons,â can provide an antidote to the âcandy theologyâ of so much contemporary preaching in which the reality of death is either ignored or denied.30 The incorporation of the spirituals into oneâs preaching life, Powery maintains, is one way to keep preachers grounded and instruct them on the spiritual dynamics of hope. Not surprisinglyâand therefore true to the name spiritualâPoweryâs homiletical method incorporates much pneumatology, paying special attention to the resurrection imagery found in Ezekiel 37, in which the Spirit breathes new life into the dry bones of exiled Israel.31
Our daily existence, Powery writes, is full of âlittle deaths,â which preachers deny at their own peril.32 As a model for telling the âgospel truthâ in such a spiritual climate, Powery undertakes a textual analysis of the spirituals, while also remaining âsensitive to their musical soundscape.â33 Like Troeger, Powery sees great potential for âenhancing the theory and practice of preachingâ by integrating the music of the spirituals into preaching, even viewing...
