Celebration of Biblical Preaching:
Bridging the Gap Between the
Bible and Our World Today
Oct. 5-7, 2009
Workshops
Preaching Healing
Do we "preach" healing because we don't know how to "do" healing? Or is preaching also doing? And what is healing anyway? We will think about the relation of preaching to healing and consider how we might preach some of the Bible's healing stories.
Leader:
Fred Gaiser,
Professor of Old Testament, Luther Seminary
Writing for the Ear
Ever since the Enlightenment, people have learned how to write for the page, working the language so it would plainly and effectively convey the correct information to its readers. In doing so they eschewed the 2,000-year-old tradition of language that was memorable to the ear with its repetition, images, narratives and well-constructed sentences. This workshop will take sentences brought by the participants and rework them into sentences that can be remembered and are pleasing and moving to the listeners.
Leader:
Gracia Grindal,
Professor of Rhetoric, Luther Seminary
We are not Marcionites: Preaching from the "Rest of the Story"
Our forebears in faith, including Jesus and Paul, preached God's good news from their Scripture, our Old Testament. How can we help expand the ways our congregations hear God's message by preaching from Old Testament texts and even, gasp, the Deuterocanonical books (which were highly valued by Luther). What would a more varied diet of texts do to help improve the health of our faith and life together? In this workshop we'll look at some texts that may serve well for preachers and their audiences.
Leader:
Sarah Henrich,
Professor of New Testament, Luther Seminary
Preach the Preacher
In this day, how does the preacher know what to preach? How do you know that this is God's message for the moment? How do you know you are preaching the God concept versus your concept? How do you reach the hearts and minds of the people to move them to action? Is the theological story being told by authentic theological storytellers or are there other cultural storytellers capturing the minds of the people?
Leaders:
Richard D. Howell Jr., Bishop and Overseer, Shiloh Temple International Ministries, Minneapolis, Minn.
Donald Bryant, Pastor, Shiloh Temple International Ministries, Minneapolis, Minn.
Bishop Richard D. Howell Jr. has been pastor over Shiloh Temple International Ministries since 1984. His grandparents founded the church in 1931. Bishop Howell holds a bachelor's degree in pastoral studies from North Central Bible College in Minneapolis and a Master of Arts degree in counseling psychology from University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minn. In 2005 he received his Doctorate of Divinity from Friends International Christian University. He was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Divinity from University of St. Thomas in 2003. He has received awards for community work from several organizations, including The National Institute on Media and the Family and the Hennepin County Attorney's Office. Bishop Howell is the Diocesan (Bishop) over the 7th Episcopal District of the Pentecostal Assemblies of the World, Inc., which is the Minnesota, Wisconsin, Dakotas District Council (MWDDC). He is the author of "Possessors of the Kingdom," published in 2008. He and his wife, Bettye, have two grown children, Richie (Michelle) and Andrea (Jeremi), and two granddaughters, Carmen and Harmony.
Donald G. Bryant Jr. is a native of Detroit, Mich., and is an associate elder at Shiloh Temple International Ministries in North Minneapolis where he is also the dean of the Richard D. Howell Jr. School of Ministry. He is the CEO and president of the Alden Group Inc., a consumer product marketing firm that launches unique products to major retailers around the country. Donald was educated at Michigan State University where he received both a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering and a MBA in marketing. He has also completed coursework to obtain his Doctor of Ministry degree. He is an accomplished communicator and marketer which has allowed him to travel both in the United States and abroad. Donald has been married for nine years to his wife, Camille, and has three children, Kennedi, 6; Payton, 1; and Isaiah, 3.
Preaching the Law
It has been said that in a society where nothing is sinful, nothing is forgiven. It has also been said that without the law, the proclamation of the gospel is reduced to trite platitudes. In this workshop, preachers will be invited to explore the preaching of the law, especially in its first and second uses. Biblical texts from the Pentateuch and Prophets will be featured.
Leader:
Rolf Jacobson,
Associate Professor of Old Testament, Luther Seminary
Preaching the Letters of Paul
Paul's letters are rich in theology yet a challenge for preachers. We will explore several different sermon strategies that help engage listeners in Paul's message. We will also consider ways the lectionary provides opportunities to develop sermon series on these crucial New Testament texts.
Leaders:
Craig Koester,
Professor of New Testament, Luther Seminary
To and From: Sacraments and Preaching
The Reformers, and especially Martin Luther, continually turn to the sacraments to find a language to speak the dynamic of God's grace: provisional, disruptive and comforting. This workshop explores how the sacramental metaphors and references used in preaching deepen as understanding (and experience) of the distinction between Law and Gospel. It will also consider how "preaching" comprises many languages.
Leaders:
Dirk Lange,
Associate Professor Worship, Luther Seminary
Reading Texts for the Sake of Hearing the Gospel
What happens to interpreting and preaching biblical texts without ever voicing words that were meant to be heard? This presentation will explore ways of reading and interpreting texts that take notice of the oral/aural nature of the Bible. What is the difference between reading a text and hearing a text? How can our hearing of the biblical texts help our preaching of them?
Leader:
Karoline Lewis,
Assistant Professor of Preaching, Luther Seminary
The Essential Sermon
Most preaching that fails to meet the expectations and needs of hearers doesn't fail because it's heretical or because it's delivered poorly. Most preaching fails because, at the end of the day, it's simply not necessary. It's not critical to the life of faith. It's not, in short, essential to the hearer. What does "essential preaching" look and sound like? We'll find out by starting with what we ourselves, as believers and persons of faith, need to hear to keep us in faith.
Leader:
David Lose,
The Marbury E. Anderson Professor of Biblical Preaching, Luther Seminary
Preaching and Culture
Preachers throughout the church are asking themselves how to respond faithfully to the many different cultures that are now part of our communities. We seek ways to learn how to read the Bible and interpret the story through the eyes of other traditions. Because we want to be faithful to God's mission this workshop will focus on engaging other traditions through the lens of accompaniment while broadening our understanding of God's mission in the 21st Century.
Leader:
Antonio Machado, Coordinator of Vocational Formation, Luther Seminary
The New Generation and a Screen-Based World: Preaching in a Hyper-Real World
Is preaching different in a world where people spend much of their time looking at screens? If their attention is directed toward computer, TV and cell phone screens, are they constructing meaning in different ways than in the past? This seminar will explore the work of French philosopher Jean Baudillard to see what effect our screen-based living has on how we make meaning and if meaning has become harder to construct. The seminar will then ask what this all means for the church and our preaching in relation to younger people. What theological perspective might we take to address a generation making their primary meaning not in the "real" but in the "hyper-real" of screen worlds?
Leader:
Andrew Root,
Assistant Professor of Youth and Family Ministry, Luther Seminary
Neon Bible: Preaching and Worship at the Intersection of Scripture and Pop Culture
The Bible is omnipresent in pop culture: in movies, on TV and in popular music. We'll think about how and why to engage this cultural reality in preaching and worship, and how doing so can open space for deepening congregational Scripture study practices.
Leader:
Christian Scharen,
Assistant Professor of Worship, Luther Seminary
Preaching "Ahead of Time"
Statements of hope in the Bible give God's people a sense of direction for the present and a glimpse into God's future. Worship draws us into the forgiveness, praise, shared peace and feasting that characterize the fulfillment of Christian hope. This workshop will explore how preaching, like other elements of worship, is an act by which God's future is pulled into the present. Participants will see how particular questions put to biblical texts help disclose the future to which they point and explore how to proclaim that future in ways that make a difference for daily life.
Leader:
Mary Hinkle Shore,
Associate Dean for First Theological Degree Programs, Luther Seminary
Preaching and Interpreting the Parables
The language and images in Jesus' parables stir our imaginations. In fact, they require our imaginations; they summon and interact with our own experiences and perceptions as we try to make sense of the stories they tell. We might say that they work like metaphors do. The metaphorical, evocative character of parables makes them both exciting and challenging texts. Exciting because they are difficult to pin down and they resist easy, one-dimensional interpretations. Challenging because they, well, also because they are difficult to pin down and they resist easy, one-dimensional interpretations. How can preachers invite congregations into the often foreign landscapes of the parables? How can the parables' metaphorical character help congregations explore the deep and diverse significance of these texts and the light they shed on the gospel and a life of faith?
Leader:
Matthew Skinner,
Assistant Professor of New Testament, Luther Seminary
Bridging the Word and the World in Preaching
As preachers, many of our hearers are trying to figure out how to live out their faith and hope in a world that is increasingly complex and uncertain. How do we make the Word come alive in our preaching so the hearers claim it and walk in it? How do we allow the Spirit to work within our preaching and not be afraid of it? Join Pastor Gloria Roach Thomas as she discusses how to bridge the Word of God and the world in which our parishioners live and work.
Leader:
Gloria Roach Thomas, Pastor, Camphor United Methodist Church, St. Paul, Minn.
The Rev. Gloria Roach Thomas is ordained clergy in the United Methodist Minnesota Annual Conference. She is currently in her sixth year serving as senior pastor at Camphor Memorial United Methodist Church, St. Paul, Minn. She also teaches in the mortuary science program at the University of Minnesota School of Medicine. She served as associate pastor for five years at Brooklyn United Methodist Church in Brooklyn Center, Minn. and one year as seminary staff at Hennepin Avenue United Methodist Church, Minneapolis.
Thomas is an active member of the St. Paul Black Ministerial Alliance. She is a former Board of Trustee at Hamline University, St. Paul and a former board chairperson for The Family Place, Inc., a day center for homeless families. She holds a Master of Divinity degree from United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities, New Brighton, Minn., and Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degrees in education from Winthrop University, Rock Hill, S.C. A native of South Carolina, Thomas has resided in Minnesota for 33 years. She and her husband, Leroy, have two adult children.
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