Fall 2019/Fuller Online

PR539

Mercer

PR539: PREACHING LITERARY FORMS (4 Units: 160 hours). Dr. Danny W. Mercer.

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DESCRIPTION: PR539 This course will relate preaching to the variety of literary forms found in the Bible. It will focus on rigorous exegesis for preaching and effective delivery of sermons based on the unique styles and functions of diverse biblical genres. The course is designed as a 4-unit practicum in preaching that follows PR500 in the sequence of required preaching courses. The course provides students with an opportunity to work the “Developing” and “Mastery” levels of competence by preparing, preaching, listening to, responding to, and assessing sermons in a classroom setting. Instructors lead students through the following steps: assessing one’s prior preaching experience; setting personal goals for the class; preparing and preaching sermons; receiving feedback on sermons and engaging in self - assessment; making specific plans for continued growth and improvement; reflecting on one’s experience during the class; setting goals for continued learning and growth in preaching after completion of the class.

LEARNING OUTCOMES: Upon successful completion of this course students will have demonstrated (1) competence in biblical interpretation through faithful use of the whole canon of Scripture in proclaiming the gospel; (2) capacities for engaging listeners in preaching as a formative activity in the context of worship; (3) an understanding of how the theology of the Church and its historical developments, including the practice of preaching, inform the proclamation of the gospel in the present; and (4) competence in preaching as a theologically reflective practice that serves the Church’s vocation of proclaiming the gospel in the whole of life.

RELATIONSHIP TO PROGRAM LEARNING OUTCOMES: This course will address the content and interpretation of the OT/NT in its historical and contemporary context, which is consistent with MDiv PLO 1: “Students will have demonstrated competence in the practice of biblical interpretation for faithful use of Scripture in their own lives and ministries” and MDiv PLO 3: “Students will have demonstrated capacities for being theologically reflective practitioners for Christian ministries.”

COURSE FORMAT: The class is conducted online for the equivalent of 40 instructional hours (160 total hours of course work) and includes posts and video presentations by the professor, class discussion, individual and collaborative learning activities, required reading and written responses, and the preparation and preaching of three (3) sermons to listening groups comprising a minimum of 5 members. Sermons address the particular contexts of listening groups and are videoed and posted on the class Canvas site. Students receive feedback, evaluative comments, and guidance for continued learning and development from the listening group, class members, and the professor. Students engage in self - assessment and reflection after preaching each sermon. In addition to online discussions following each sermon, students have the opportunity to consult individually with the professor through a variety of venues.

REQUIRED READING: 611 pages required.

Childers, Jana, ed. Birthing the Sermon: Women Preachers on the Creative Process. Chalice, 2001. ISBN: 978-0827202306, Pub. Price $29.99. Available as an e-book from the Fuller Library [220 pp.].

Long, Thomas G. Preaching and the Literary Forms of the Bible. Fortress, 1989. ISBN: 978-0800623135, Pub. Price: $23.00 [124 pp.].

COURSE READER:

12 Articles and Book selections will be made available in E-reserves [267 pp.]. The course reader includes authors who reflect gender, racial, ethnic, and theological diversity.

Bailey, James L. "Genre Analysis." In Hearing the New Testament: Strategies for Interpretation, Edited by Joel B. Green., 140-65. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2010.

Bartlett, David L. "Texts Shaping Sermons." In Listening to the Word: Studies in Honor of Fred B. Craddock, Edited by Gail R. O’Day and Thomas G. Long., 147-63. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1993.

Blount, Brian K., and Gary W. Charles. "By the Beautiful Sea." In Preaching Mark in Two Voices, 60-75. Louisville: WJK Press, 2002.

Blount, Brian K., and Gary W. Charles. "No Dogs Allowed." In Preaching Mark in Two Voices, 116-43. Louisville: WJK Press Press.

Blount, Brian K., and Gary W. Charles. “One Cross Fits All." In Preaching Mark in Two Voices, 144-60. Louisville: WJK Press Press.

Cutie, Alberto R. "Preaching in Bilingual and Multicultural Contexts." Anglican Theological Review 101, no. 1 (Winter 2019): 89-96.

Eunjoo, Mary Kim. "Hermeneutics and Asian American Preaching." Semeia: An Experimental Journal for Biblical Criticism 46, no. 1 (January 1, 2002): 269-290.

Graves, Mike. "Text and Tune: The Shapes and Sounds of Sermons to Come." In The Sermon as Symphony: Preaching the Literary Forms of the New Testament, 3-35. Valley Forge, PA: Judson Press, 1997.

Larue, CLeopus, Jerry Taylor, and Daniel Rodriguez. "The Exodus as Paradigmatic Text in the African American Community." In Reclaiming the Imagination: The Exodus as Paradigmatic Narrative for Preaching, 119-50. Danvers, MA: Chalice Press, 2009.

Plunket Brewton, Callie. "The Good Life." In Preaching Character, 42-47. Abilene: ACU Press, 2010.

Wardlaw, Don M. "The Need for New Shapes." In Preaching Biblically: Creating Sermons in the Shape of Scripture, 11-25. Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1983.

RECOMMENDED READING:

Burce, Jerome. Proclaiming the Scandal. Trinity Press International, 2000. ISBN: 978-1563383328,

Pub Price $12.00 [96 pp.].

Campbell, Charles L. Preaching Jesus. Eerdmans, 1997. ISBN: 978-1597528849, Pub. Price $31.00.

Eslinger, Richard. The Web of Preaching. Abingdon Press, 2002. ISBN: 978-0687012978, Pub. Price

$31.99.

Gonzalez, J. L., and Pablo A. Jimenez. Pulpito: An Introduction to Hispanic Preaching. Abingdon, 2005. ISBN: 978-0687088508, Pub. Price $22.99 [152 pp.].

Kim, Eunjoo Mary. Preaching the Presence of God: A Homiletic from an Asian American Perspective. Judson Press, 1999. ISBN: 978-0817013035, Pub. Price $14.99 [160 pp.].

LaRue, Cleophas J. I Believe I’ll Testify: The Art of African American Preaching. Westminster John Knox, 2011. ISBN: 978-0664236779, Pub. Price $22.00 [144 pp.].

Long, Thomas G. The Witness of Preaching, 2nd Ed. Westminster/John Knox Press, 2005. ISBN:

978-0664229436, Pub. Price $27.00.

Lose, David J. Confessing Jesus Christ: Preaching in a Postmodern World. Eerdmans, 2003. ISBN:

978-0802849830, Pub. Price $29.00.

Webb, Stephen. The Divine Voice: Christian Proclamation and the Theology of Sound. Brazos, 2004.

ISBN: 978-1610977579, Pub. Price $27.00.

Wilson, Paul Scott. The Four Pages of the Sermon: A Guide to Biblical Preaching. Abingdon, 1999.

ISBN: 978-0687023950, Pub. Price $28.99.

ASSIGNMENTS AND ASSESSMENT:

1. 611 pages of required reading (10%). [This assignment is related to outcomes # 1, 2, 3, 4] [30 hours].

2. Prepare and preach three (3) sermons and provide exegetical notes and self-assessment. Students are required to complete the following: Prepare and preach a sermon, with particular attention to the place of preaching in worship and preaching as a catechetical/formative practice of the church. Preaching will include sermons from both the Old and New Testaments and from different genres. Students will submit exegetical notes with each sermon. The professor will provide guidelines for exegetical work. Identify the form and function of the genre. If the pericope has a significant literary device (e.g., parallelisms, inclusio, diatribe, chiasmus, etc.), then describe how the device is working. (b) Complete a substantive homiletic self-assessment after each sermon that reflects specifically on both strengths and weaknesses and sets goals for continuing improvement and growth in preparing and preaching sermons (45%-15% each). [This assignment is related to outcomes #1, 2, 4]. [75 hours]. Please note that sermons require a minimum of 5 “listeners” who will be recruited by the student. Students who have access to preaching for a congregation or group/ministries within congregations should consider these as options. Ministries outside the congregation are also acceptable: nursing homes, shelters, retirement communities, prison ministries, chaplaincy settings, etc. What matters is that the Word of God is proclaimed in a manner that is faithful and appropriate.

3. DLA: Attend a worship service (outside of your own) and write a 5-page critical review of the sermon and the sermon’s relationship to the specific cultural context; paying special attention to the dominant posture the preacher takes (Herald, Pastor, Storyteller, Witness, Docent, etc). Make specific mention of the genre of the text used and whether the sermon was faithful to the dominant function of that genre. Note the sermon’s attention to the concepts we have discussed in class (focus, form, function, movement, appropriate use of text, etc.). (15%) [10 hours]

4. Regularly and actively participate in various course activities via Canvas (20%). [This assignment is related to outcomes # 1, 2, 3, 4]. [40 hours].

5. Final Reflection. Write a 3-4 page final paper that reflects theologically on: (1) the student’s work, readings, and experience during the class and sets goals for continued growth in the practice of preaching; (2) the student’s vocational plans to serve God’s mission through the ministry of the Word, including theological reflection on the particular challenges, opportunities and characteristics of one’s anticipated ministry context(s); (10%). [This assignment is related to outcome # 4]. [5 hours].

PREREQUISITES: PR500. It is recommended that students take preaching courses towards the end of their program. Students must be able to gather a listening group of at least 5 people for each sermon that will be delivered.

RELATIONSHIP TO CURRICULUM: Option to meet the P1 requirement in the 120 MDiv Program. Meets the core requirement in Preaching and Communication (MIN2) in the 144 MDiv program.

FINAL EXAMINATION: None.