Singapore 2004

Lecture 1: Professor Choan-Seng (C.S.) Song

Professor Choan-Seng (C.S.) Song is Professor of Theology and Asian Cultures at the Pacific School of Religion at Berkeley, U.S.A. He is President of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches. Professor Song has made seminal contributions to the exploration of interactions between Christian faith and contemporary social-political and cultural-religious situations in Asia. His many publications include Jesus, The Crucified People; Jesus and the Reign of God; Jesus in the Power of the Spirit; Third-Eye Theology; The Believing Heart; Invitation to Story Theology.

Lecture 2: Dr John S. McClure

Dr John S. McClure leads one of the few doctoral programs in the field of homiletics in USA as the Charles G. Finney Professor of Homiletics at Vanderbilt University School of Divinity in Nashville, Tennessee.

During his tenure at Louisville Seminary, he perfected a model of collaborative preaching, a method which includes laity in sermon brainstorming and development. This methodology is outlined in his book, The Roundtable Pulpit: Where Leadership and Preaching Meet (Abingdon, 1995), which has inspired many preachers and colleagues within the Church to incorporate this process in their own sermon preparations. His other publications include The Four Codes of Preaching: Rhetorical Strategies (Fortress, 1991); Proclamation 5: Aids for Interpreting the Lessons for the Church Year and his most recent Otherwise Preaching: A Postmodern Ethic for Homiletics (Chalice Press, 2001).

Workshop 1: A Clear and Present Word From God To Our Leaders

"A Clear and Present Word From God To Our Leaders"

Preaching prophetically to reach world and church leaders in a time of conflict

The workshop will begin with a presentation in three parts, each followed by a short period of specific questions and discussion:

1. sketching the biblical evidence in its context, with special attention to the role of Moses, Elijah, Jeremiah, Deutero-Isaiah, Paul (Romans, Ephesians), & the author of Revelation;
2. discerning the main features of the current global scene - 'the signs of the times', attempting to assess the nature and limits of American/Western political and cultural dominance and the impact of local/regional political and religious circumstances;
3. examining briefly case studies of preaching God's Word to civic or church leaders and the consequences:
   1. in Britain,
   2. in Singapore,
   3. in Australia.

The workshop will rely not only on the presentation input but the active involvement of all participants to frame some sort of checklist of the content and method of approach to preaching that aims to touch and support or challenge those entrusted with political leadership at any level of world society.

Read more: Workshop 1: A Clear and Present Word From God To Our Leaders

Workshop 2: Asking the Hearer About Preaching: Empirical Research in Homiletics

"Asking the Hearer About Preaching: Empirical Research in Homiletics"

In this workshop we will get an overview with practical illustrations of theological and methodological questions and pitfalls in doing empirical research on homiletics.

 

Read more: Workshop 2: Asking the Hearer About Preaching: Empirical Research in Homiletics

Workshop 3: Divinely sanctioned (?) violence in the Old Testament

"Divinely sanctioned (?) violence in the Old Testament"

The workshop will consider, more from an exegetical perspective, Israel's claim that God ordered them to slaughter entire populations of indigenous peoples when Israel entered Canaan. The claim will be examined within the context of a Deuteronomic "conservative" tradition, and set alongside other views, such as that of the prophets and the author of Jonah, in which a picture of God's universal concern for other nations dominates.

 

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Workshop 4: Homiletics as Theological Discipline

"Homiletics as Theological Discipline"

Theological criteria on transforming biblical texts, illustrated on the "Massacre of the Innocents" (Mt. 2: 1-18)

Sometimes biblical texts and their implications are a crying disgrace. They tend to be silenced, played down or spiritualized. Which theological options hinder such tendencies? A sermon always transforms the biblical text of reference by following, consciously or unconsciously, specific options. What are these basic decisions of the preacher? What is the basic story she/he takes her/his bearings on? Elementary theological questions are provoked by an alienated transformation of Mt 2: 1-18 (a sermon by Rev Susan Durber/GB). We ask for our own basic stories and their cognitive, emotional and pragmatic implications.

 

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Workshop 5: How To Formulate, Initiate And Stimulate Research In Homiletics?

"How To Formulate, Initiate And Stimulate Research In Homiletics?"

In this workshop we will deal with the possibilities of doing research in the discipline of Homiletics. It is not so easy to formulate an adequate research question. On the one hand the question must be formulated in a homiletical framework and on the other hand it must be relevant for the practice of preaching. But what is a homiletical framework or theory? It has an intradisciplinary structure. It has for example a theological and a rhetorical dimension. After an introduction by Dr Immink, we will discuss a few PhD projects. Dr Immink will introduce a project and participants can bring in their own proposals. During the workshop we will discuss the research questions, the methods, the theological and rhetorical dimensions of the proposals. Also questions concerning the relation between the theory and the practice of preaching, empirical research, tutorial coaching and institutional support will receive attention.

 

Read more: Workshop 5: How To Formulate, Initiate And Stimulate Research In Homiletics?

Workshop 6: Preaching as a liberative power of Jesus

 

"Preaching as a liberative power of Jesus"

Preaching is to present the revelation of God to listeners in an appropriate way to them. The message to communicate must provoke a change of attitude in the heart and life of the listeners. This message is to be shared in a world of conflict caused not only by the 'devil', but also by the human beings themselves.

There are the biblical world and the modern world. As John Stott said, a good sermon is a bridge between the biblical and the modern worlds. The sermon must be rooted in the two worlds. However the modern world should not be understood as a global village. We live in different parts of the world and the realities depend on the context of each people. For instance, I've written this synopsis from exile in Aru within my country, the Democratic Republic of Congo. In Aru, there is no library, television and it is cut off from the central government in Kinshasa. This is the reality of many African countries. Africa has often been a continent where violence, anarchy, misery, corruption, shameful exploitation of the poor, the greed of the rich and the degradation of the respect due to each human being are remarkable.

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Workshop 7: The Individual in Relation to Public Preaching

"The Individual in Relation to Public Preaching"

Paul's Epistles reveal his appreciation of the challenge of preaching to different groups of people. Whether slave or free, Jew or gentile, Paul recognized the differences in culture, status, heritage and experiences call forth different arguments, emphases, and approaches in one's teaching and preaching.

We are teaching people who will preach to cultural mixes and populations far more diverse than anything Paul could ever have imagined. This working group will explore the preacher's relationship to this diverse public. Whether it is a small congregation, or the wider community, the preacher, in her/his particular individuality, must be aware of the plurality of publics and the effect that this has on her/his preaching. Included in our discussions will be:

• Congregational Analysis
• Negotiating conflicting points of view
• Understanding the sermon as a conversation
• Constructing a listening public

 

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Workshop 8: To Speak of the Holy: God, Language and the Task of Preaching

"To Speak of the Holy: God, Language and the Task of Preaching"

This paper examines the impossible possibility of preaching. It begins with an analysis of the basis of all theological language, and examines the language of preaching in the light of discourse about God in theology and in the liturgy of the church. It establishes the relationship between language and truth, especially in the light of the postmodern challenge. The paper argues the thesis that preaching is discourse about the divine which is undergirded by scripture and tradition, but at the same time also shaped by cultural and theological imagination.

 

Read more: Workshop 8: To Speak of the Holy: God, Language and the Task of Preaching

Workshop 9: Violence

"Violence"

Members should be prepared to share one story of conflict to the workshop. The area of conflict will be explored with a view of the role or investment of a minister in the midst of violence.

I will be sharing stories of conflict from South Africa. One from the white community and another from a black community. The group will explore how the communities reacted in the midst of conflict. We will explore sermons preached at that time.

The workshop will also explore conflict in a global village. The agenda is as follows:

• short lecture on conflict
• sharing of stories by members of group
• short lecture on sermons of conflict from South Africa
• response from delegates
• sharing their global experiences of conflict
• conclusion on the role of a minister in the midst of conflict

 

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Workshop 10: Homiletical Experiences in China

"Homiletical Experiences in China"

The presentation is a compilation of the preaching experiences of seven graduate students from China currently doing post graduate work in the Post Graduate Studies at Trinity Theological College, Singapore.  Two of the students are full time local church pastors and five are teachers in theological seminaries, and all of them are actively engaging in preaching ministry of the local congregations.  Their preaching ministry covers quite a wide range of geographical areas of China. Their experiences are by no means representative of the entire Christian preachers in China. They serve only as a window to the larger world of richness and diversity in the preaching ministry in China.  The compilation is done through the feedback of a set of questionnaire and notes of personal conversations aiming at drawing out some aspects of preaching ministry and homiletical concerns facing the mainline churches in China.

Read more: Workshop 10: Homiletical Experiences in China