Preaching Prophetic Care: Building Bridges to Justice

by Phillis Isabella Sheppard (Editor), Dawn Ottoni-Wilhelm (Editor), Ronald J. Allen (Editor), Emilie M. Townes (Foreword by)

Overview

Preachers often think of prophetic preaching in the caricature of the prophet as the lonely outsider confronting the congregation, often angrily, with the congregation's complicity in social injustice and with a bracing call for repentance. The twenty-seven essays and sermons in this book offer a different perspective by viewing prophetic preaching specifically--and ministry, practical theology, and theological education more broadly--as pastoral care for the community in prophetic perspective. Such preaching does indeed bring a critical theological analysis of justice concerns to the center of the sermon, but in such a way as to invite the congregation to consider how the move toward justice is a pastoral move-- that is, a move that seeks to build up community. Rather than contributing to the polarization so rampant in today's social world, the preacher seeks to help the congregation build bridges along which concern for justice can travel. The contributions honor the work of the late Dale Andrews, a scholar of preaching and practical theology at the Divinity School, Vanderbilt University, whose seminal work inspires the notions of prophetic care and building bridges to justice.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781532643392
Publisher:	Pickwick Publications
Publication date:	06/25/2018
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	340
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Phillis-Isabella Sheppard is Associate Professor of Religion, Psychology and Culture at the Divinity School, and Graduate Department of Religion, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee.



Dawn Ottoni-Wilhelm is Brightbill Professor of Preaching and Worship at Bethany Theological Seminary, Richmond, Indiana.



Ronald J. Allen is Professor of Preaching and Gospel and Letters at Christian Theological Seminary, Indianapolis, Indiana.
Ronald J. Allen taught preaching and Gospels and Letters at Christian Theological Seminary for thirty-seven years. He is the author of many books, including I Will Tell You the Mystery (Cascade, 2019). He edited the two-volume work on theologies of preaching: Preaching the Manifold Grace of God (Cascade, 2022). Volume 1 focuses on historical theologies, and Volume 2 focuses on contemporary theologies.
Emilie M. Townes is the Dean and the E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Professor of Womanist Ethics and Society at Vanderbilt University Divinity School. She was the first African American woman president of the American Academy of Religion (2008) and currently serves as the president of the Society for the Study of Black Religion (2012-16). She is the author or editor of eight books and was elected a Fellow in the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2009.

Table of Contents

Contributors ix

Illustrations xii

Preface xiii

Foreword: From a Dean's Perspective Emilie M. Townes xv

Introduction: Brief Biographical Sketch of Dale P. Andrews-A Bridge-Building Life Amy E. Steele xix

Part 1 Preaching and Practical Theology

1 Bridges: Strong, Purposeful, and Vulnerable Mary Elizabeth Moore 3

2 Moral Reflections on the Christian Gospel and the Struggle for Justice Peter J. Paris 16

3 Understanding the Times and Knowing What to Do Robert London Smith 26

4 Truly More than Just: On the Bridge between the Pastoral and the Prophetic Ted A. Smith 35

Part 2 The Pastoral and Prophetic in Preaching

5 Building Bridges: Pastoral Care for the World in a Prophetic Mode Ronald J. Allen 47

6 The Prophet on the Margins Gennifer Benjamin Brooks 59

7 Getting in the Way: Preacher as Urban Interpreter and Suburban Interrupter R. Mark Giuliano 68

8 In Search of the Beloved Community Debra J. Mumford 78

9 The Application of Moral Chemotherapy in the 21st Century: Prophetic Preaching with a Pastoral Touch Frank A. Thomas 87

10 Unauthorized: Pastoral and Prophetic Utterances on the Ground Lisa L. Thompson 99

Part 3 Prophetic Care, Preaching, and Wider Community

11 Emancipatory Practice: Institutional Maintenance and Prophetic Witness Donna E. Allen 113

12 A Church that Will Survive: Prophetic Proclamation, Community Wellness and Clergy Well Being Kenyatta R. Gilbert 120

13 Prophetic Preaching in a Pastoral Mode: Communities of Solidarity and the White Mainline Church David Schnasa Jacobsen 129

14 In Search of a Prophetic Twenty-first Century Church William B. McClain 138

15 Building Bridges Week by Week Mary Alice Mulligan 146

Part 4 Learning to Preach in the Mode of Prophetic Care

16 Building Bridges: Pedagogical Reflections on a Black Lives Matter Resistance Hermeneutic for Preaching L. Susan Bond 161

17 "That Being Said": A Pastoral Prophetic Transition for Doing Justice Teresa L. Fry Brown 172

18 Encounteringthe Word: Dale Andrews' Inductive Pedagogy for Prophetic Preaching John S. McClure 181

19 Preaching the Mystery of Gods Reign: Encounter, Re-encounter, and Pre-encounter Dawn Ottoni-Wilhelm 191

20 "The Thursday After:" The Crisis of Formation in the Post-Election Theological Classroom Shelly Rambo 202

Part 5 Prophetic Care: Particular Topics

21 The Importance of the Pastoral and the Prophetic: For Preaching among the Traumatized Teresa Lockhart Eisenlohr 217

22 Tending the Methodist Roots of Preaching and Pastoral Care G. Lee Ramsey, Jr. 228

23 "The Wrath of God's Love;" Ethical Tension in Social Justice Preaching Amy E. Steele 240

24 Restoration and Resistance: Restorative Justice and Black Practical Theology Scott C. Williamson 247

25 A Three-Fold Homiletic Lesson from Dr. King's Pastoral and Prophetic Preaching on Violence Sunggu Yang 266

Part 6 Sermons that Embody Prophetic Care

26 A Biblical Apprenticeship in Bridge-Building Ministry: A Two-Part Series Luke A. Powery 277

27 The Wall at the Well: A Sermon on John 4:3-30, with Reflection Anna Carter Florence 290

Appendix A New to Whom? Dale P. Andrews 299

Appendix B A Partial Bibliography of the Works of Dale P. Andrews 302

Bibliography 305

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

“This collection of essays is a deep and richly nuanced testimony to homiletician Dale Andrews, his scholarly work and personal witness. I especially appreciate the conversations regarding the bridges between the pastoral and the prophetic in preaching, between personal piety and social justice in the life of congregations, and the ways in which these bridges can be manifest both in the practice of preaching as well as its pedagogy. Undergirding the entire volume is Andrews’s own deep commitment to racial and social justice in all its forms. This is a great resource for thoughtful pastors, scholars, and teachers of preaching.”

—Leonora Tubbs Tisdale, Clement-Muehl Professor of Homiletics, Yale Divinity School

Editorial Reviews

This collection of essays is a deep and richly nuanced testimony to homiletician Dale Andrews, his scholarly work and personal witness. I especially appreciate the conversations regarding the bridges between the pastoral and the prophetic in preaching, between personal piety and social justice in the life of congregations, and the ways in which these bridges can be manifest both in the practice of preaching as well as its pedagogy. Undergirding the entire volume is Andrews’s own deep commitment to racial and social justice in all its forms. This is a great resource for thoughtful pastors, scholars, and teachers of preaching.”

—Leonora Tubbs Tisdale, Clement-Muehl Professor of Homiletics, Yale Divinity School

From the Publisher