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

Presenter: Prof Lucy Lind Hogan, USA

Prof Lucy Hogan, Ph.D, is Professor of Preaching and Worship at Wesley Theological Seminary, a United Methodist school in Washington, D.C., having taught there since 1987. She is ordained in the Episcopal Church. With a background in rhetoric and the history of American public address, Dr Hogan studies the intersection between rhetoric and preaching, persuasion and argumentation, and communication studies. With Dr Robert Reid, she is the author of "Connecting with the Congregation: Rhetoric and the Art of Preaching."