The Crisis of Bad Preaching: Redeeming the Heart and Way of the Catholic Preacher

by Joshua J. Whitfield

Overview

The Crisis of Bad Preaching is an audacious response to a long-simmering pastoral crisis: poorly prepared, often stale, and largely irrelevant homilies that are fueling the mass exodus of people from the Church.

Echoing Popes Benedict and Francis, Rev. Joshua Whitfield confronts what is perhaps the most common complaint of Catholics around the world: hollow, vacuous preaching. A parish priest in Dallas, Whitfield encourages fellow preachers to profound renewal, reminding them that preaching is not just something they do, it is essential to who they are.

Catholic preaching today often achieves the opposite of what it should, which is connecting the People of God with the Gospel of Christ in a compelling and motivating way. With an insider’s candor, biting honesty, and persuasive conviction, Whitfield stresses that preachers need to return to this ideal because the wellbeing of the Church depends on it.

More than just another how-to book, The Crisis of Bad Preaching is at once deeply challenging and uplifting and full of practical advice for a reversal of the status quo.       

In Part I, Whitfield explores the essential role of the preacher as a public intellectual and member of the communion of preachers that spans the history of the Church. Whitfield offers advice about which great preachers—from Origen, Augustine , and Aquinas to Martin Luther King, Jr. and Bishop Robert Barron—to study and what to learn from them. Whitfield also explains why preachers must submit in humility to the fullness of the Church—its teachings, authority, practices, and structures.

In Part II, Whitfield explores the important habits of prayer, preparation, cultivating rhetorical skill, and learning to take full advantage of both positive and negative criticism. He explains how the way of the preacher must be the way of the Holy Spirit and argues that without the preacher opening his heart to the fire of evangelical proclamation, he will lack the capacity to preach the transforming grace of the Gospel, his mandate.

In a brief epilogue, Whitfield encourages ten habits for listening. Addressed to both laity and the ordained, he asserts that fixing preaching will take the concerted effort of all members of the Church.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781594718366
Publisher:	Ave Maria Press
Publication date:	04/26/2019
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	192
File size:	3 MB

About the Author

Rev. Joshua J. Whitfield is pastor of St. Rita Catholic Community in Dallas, Texas, where he has served in a variety of roles since his conversion to Catholicism in 2009. Whitfield previously served as an Episcopal priest and was ordained in the Catholic Church under the pastoral provision of St. John Paul II in 2012.

Whitfield is a contributor to The Dallas Morning News, for which he was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize for commentary in 2016. His work also has been published in The Texas Catholic, Newsday, and America magazine. He has appeared on Catholic Answers Focus and local television affiliates in Dallas. Whitfield is the author of Pilgrim Holiness.

He is a 1999 graduate of Texas Tech University, with a bachelor’s degree in English and history. He trained for ministry at the College of the Resurrection in Mirfield, England, from 2000 to 2003, while earning bachelor’s and master’s degrees in theology and a master’s degree in theology and pastoral studies from the University of Leeds. He earned his master’s degree in theology from Duke University in 2008.

Whitfield and his wife, Alli, live in Dallas with their children.

Rev. Joshua J. Whitfield is pastor of St. Rita Catholic Community in Dallas, Texas, where he has served in a variety of roles since his conversion to Catholicism in 2009. Whitfield previously served as an Episcopal priest and was ordained in the Catholic Church under the pastoral provision of St. John Paul II in 2012.

Whitfield is a contributor to The Dallas Morning News, for which he was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize for commentary in 2016. His work also has been published in The Texas Catholic, Newsday, and America magazine. He has appeared on Catholic Answers Focus and local television affiliates in Dallas. Whitfield is the author of Pilgrim Holiness.

He is a 1999 graduate of Texas Tech University, with a bachelor’s degree in English and history. He trained for ministry at the College of the Resurrection in Mirfield, England, from 2000 to 2003, while earning bachelor’s and master’s degrees in theology and a master’s degree in theology and pastoral studies from the University of Leeds. He earned his master’s degree in theology from Duke University in 2008.

Whitfield and his wife, Alli, live in Dallas with their children.

Table of Contents

Preface xi

Acknowledgments xvii

Part I Redeeming the Heart of the Preacher 1

1 The Preacher as Public Intellectual 9

2 The Communion of Preachers 19

3 The Preacher and the Fullness of the Church 29

Part II Redeeming the Way of the Preacher 47

4 The Preacher at Prayer 53

5 The Way of Preparation 71

6 The Way of Speaking 97

7 The Way of Criticism 115

8 The Pentecost of Preaching 129

Epilogue: The Way of the Listener 135

Notes 147

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

“Rev. Joshua Whitfield believes that the cure for the crisis of preaching in the Catholic Church is not for the preacher to learn a few practical skills. Good preaching flows from the being of the preacher and so it is impossible without a deep life of prayer and study. He pulls no punches. This book offers just the challenge that we need to hear. It is beautifully written and filled with wisdom. ” —Timothy Radcliffe, O.P., Former Master of the Order of Preachers

“How can we ever hope to reach the lost if we continue to deliver homilies that don’t engage and inspire? Joshua Whitfield urgently calls on preachers, and all those who work with them and hear them, to reexamine the importance we place on our Catholic preaching. His historical perspective is illuminating and his insight into taking control of one’s message will resonate with anyone who has ever felt a homily wasn’t working as it should. He reminds us of the privilege we have in preaching the Gospel, and that when done well, it will prepare our people to receive Jesus. This book will convince you that the New Evangelization starts in your pulpit.” —Michael White and Tom Corcoran, Authors of Rebuilt

“Priests and deacons, add this book to your library! Fr. Whitfield has given us a vital and important work for our time. He reminds all of us who preach how we can fulfill this calling with passion and power—and help renew not only our preaching, but also our Church.” —Greg Kandra, The Deacon’s Bench

“Joshua Whitfield writes that we live in a 'darkening age of shrinking faith.' Anyone who can turn such a phrase has something important to say. What Whitfield has to recommend for the renewal of preaching by Roman Catholics is at once simple and profound. Protestants, too, will find this work urgently compelling. With passion and humor, Whitfield reminds us that preaching and the preacher are inseparable. Hopefully his book will mark a new day for many who have the happy task of glorifying God through the proclamation of the Good News.” —Stanley Hauerwas, Gilbert T. Rowe Professor Emeritus of Divinity and Law, Duke Divinity School

“Joshua Whitfield's new book on the heart and way of the preacher fills a gaping hole in the formation of clergy. In his engaging style, he draws on the classics of rhetoric, the rich tradition of Protestant homiletics, and his own experience as preacher, husband, and dad. With a wealth of references, he helps preachers understand their task and urges them to continue their education. More importantly, Whitfield points out that a preacher must first hear the Word. He is calling not only for a reform of Catholic homiletics but also of the way we live our priesthood.” —Rev. Peter Verhalen, O.Cist., Abbot of the Cistercian Abbey of Our Lady of Dallas

“I hope for the renewal of Roman Catholic preaching that Joshua Whitfield heralds in this book, for it will usher Christ’s kingdom closer for the blessing of the world. I wish I’d written this book. But since God gave Fr. Joshua such gifts of wisdom, humor, and passion, I’ll reread his book, teach it, recommend it, and will look forward to seeing God use it mightily.” —Rev. Jason Byassee, Butler Chair in Homiletics and Biblical Hermeneutics, Vancouver School of Theology in British Columbia

“Steeped in the classics, while drawing on a breadth of modern Catholic and Protestant greats, Whitfield invites homilists to take seriously their vocation to preach—avoiding the ‘delusion of inspiration’ and embracing the hard work of preparing a preaching that comes from the heart and speaks to the heart. He reminds homilists that theirs is not simply a craft but a discipline that touches every aspect of the preacher’s life.” —Ann M. Garrido, Associate Professor of Homiletics, Aquinas Institute of Theology

“Well done! Fr. Joshua Whitfield’s book is reflective, encouraging, and to the point. He offers an inspirational challenge to those called to the ministry of preaching to do so with great resolve, passion, preparation, and conviction. Whitfield beckons the preacher ‘to beg the Holy Spirit to set fire to us and our words. We must renew ourselves in the way we pray and prepare and deliver homilies.’” —Rev. Anthony F. Lackland, Vice Rector of Holy Trinity Seminary

“I hope bishops, priests, deacons, and seminarians read this book. I hope leaders of the Church heed the call of Joshua Whitfield and give our clergy the training and support they need to become better preachers. We lay Catholics ought to read this book too, so we can champion this cause. The Church desperately needs relevant, compelling, and inspiring preaching each and every Sunday. Fr. Joshua Whitfield is showing us a way to get there.” —Jim Moroney, Publisher Emeritus, The Dallas Morning News

“Joshua Whitfield sends out an impassioned vision for all in the Church to embrace: preachers lit ablaze’ and ‘inspired listeners’ are to walk hand in hand as missionary disciples. Whitfield urges homilists to preach from the heart, from the inside out, in a determined effort to set hearts ablaze with a desire for God. He pleads for all of us to listen for the Spirit in every homily, no matter how challenging that might be. To revitalize the Church, together we need to renew our preaching. In this fervent and fast-moving book, Whitfield implores us all to pray and work to do just that.” —Karla J. Bellinger, Author of Connecting Pulpit and Pew, Associate Director of the John S. Marten Program for Homiletics and Liturgics, University of Notre Dame