Slow of Speech and Unclean Lips: Contemporary Images of Preaching Identity

Description: Historically people who have risen to the occasion to speak of faith for their generation have been keenly aware of their own limitations-whether Moses who was slow of speech or Isaiah who was concerned that he spoke with unclean lips. The question both Moses and Isaiah seem to be asking is who am I to speak for God? And we wonder in turn was it they who spoke or God who spoke through them? These biblical images carry the weight of the question raised by the essays in this volume. How is preaching both the work of God and yet also a function of the individuals own person and identity? How is the preacher to conceive the identity he or she assumes when proclaiming the Word of God? Some of the leading educators in homiletics today propose a variety of possible preaching identities in this volume: preacher as messenger of hope as lover as Gods mystery steward as ridiculous person as fisher as host and guest as one out of ones mind and as one entrusted. The result is an open-ended invitation for readers to identify their own preaching identity either in concert with one of the images presented here or of their own making appropriately contextualized to their own ministry and theology Endorsements: Take a turn with all eight of the homileticians in this volume and they will inspire and invigorate your preaching. Whether it is messenger of hope lover fisher ridiculous person or any of the other marvelous tropes and images they offer these essays will challenge you to explore anew the holy necessity and human absurdity of preaching. --Dawn Ottoni Wilhelm Bethany Theological Seminary The language we use shapes our perception of God the world and how we live. The language that preachers use to describe themselves organizes what they try to do in the pulpit. This provocative book offers the preacher eight vibrant images for the preacher from a major voice in contemporary scholarship in preaching . . . Each image prompts the preacher to envision the sermon in a different yet faithful way. Preachers who are ready for a jump start into fresh ways of thinking about their vocation will want this beautifully edited book. --Ronald J. Allen Christian Theological Seminary Indianapolis Apart from all the technical questions raised today about hermeneutics and homiletics and their relationship to rhetoric and post-modern interpretation these essays raise the most important question of all: Where is God in all our verbiage? Serious students of preaching both beginners and practitioners with decades of experience can benefit by reading and reflecting on the perspectives of these authors. --Judith M. McDaniel Virginia Theological Seminary Reading the fine essays here is like opening a summerhouse after a long winter: light rushes in memories are stirred old things are loved anew new celebrations are imagined. This book addresses a key question: In preaching what is the human role and what is Gods role? The answers here are marvelous in their range challenging in their diversity and rich in their depth. They open windows for fresh winds to blow. --Paul Scott Wilson Emmanuel College University of Toronto About the Contributor(s): Robert Stephen Reid is Professor of Communication and Director of the Masters Degree Program in Communication at the University of Dubuque Iowa. He is the author of The Four Voices of Preaching.