Fall 2015/Sacramento

PR525

Lamb

PR525: FOUNDATIONS OF BIBLICAL PREACHING (4 Units: 160 hours). Lisa Washington Lamb.

DESCRIPTION: A homiletics course for those in the MA programs who also feel called to preach. This course is designed to provide an introduction to the theology of preaching and to the art and craft of sermon design and delivery. It will provide the student with the opportunity to study such matters as the calling and character of the preacher, the significance of preaching, and the principles of sermon preparation. It will help the student develop skills in preparing for the task of preaching and for the development of expository sermons. This course will include a practicum component.

LEARNING OUTCOMES: The course seeks the following goals for each student: (1) Cognitive: theoretical knowledge relating to theology of preaching, sermon design, and delivery; (2) Affective: deepened appreciation for the dialogical quality of preaching and the needs of the listener in the preaching process; (3) Skills: capacity to craft a sermon that engages the biblical text, the context of the audience, theological issues, and the hearts and minds of listeners; and to deliver it meaningfully; and (4) Worship and Context: will explore the relationship between the reading and the preaching of God’s word in worship in its various contexts.

COURSE FORMAT: This class meets on five Saturdays for six-and-a-half hour sessions for a total of 32.5 hours of classroom instruction for lecture and discussion plus 7.5 hours of directed learning activities for a total of 40 instructional hours. The course has both lecture and practicum components. The practica are small groups of students led by the professor (or teaching assistants under the direction of the professor if enrollment warrants). In these groups students will preach two sermons (both recorded), on which they receive feedback from group members and professor (or the teaching assistant).

REQUIRED READING: 1,100 total number of pages required.

Long, Thomas G. The Witness of Preaching. Westminster/John Knox, 1989, 2nd ed. 2007. ISBN: 978-0664229436, Pub. Price $24.95 [240 pp.].

Lowry, Eugene. The Homiletical Plot: The Sermon as Narrative Art Form (Expanded Edition). Westminster John Knox, 2000. ISBN: 978-0664222642, Pub. Price $22.00 [138 pp.]

Overdorf, Daniel. One Year to Better Preaching: 52 Exercises to Hone Your Skills. Kregel Ministries, 2013. ISBN: 978-0825439100, Pub Price $18.99 [100 pp. assigned]

Taylor, Barbara Brown. The Preaching Life. Cowley Publications, 1993. ISBN: 987-1561010745, Pub. Price $17.95. [174 pp.].

Course Reader. Available on Moodle through eReserves. [250 pp.]. Students will also be directed to websites where they will find Early Church and Reformed sermons to read and evaluate.

Select Reading: Students will choose ONE of the five texts below:

Gilbert, Kenyatta. The Journey and Promise of African American Preaching. Fortress Press, 2011. ISBN: 978-0800696276, Pub. Price $20.00 [160 pp.]

Childers, Jana, ed. Birthing the Sermon: Women Preachers on the Creative Process. Chalice, 2001. ISBN: 978-0827202306, Pub. Price $26.99 [220 pp.].

Gonzalez, J. L., and P. A. Jimenez. Pulpito: An Introduction to Hispanic Preaching. Abingdon, 2005. ISBN: 978-0687088508, Pub. Price $20.00 [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 $12.00 [160 pp.].

LaRue, Cleophas J., ed. Power in the Pulpit: How America’s Most Effective Black Preachers Prepare Their Sermons. Westminster/John Knox, 2003. ISBN: 978-0664224813, Pub. Price $20.00 [191 pp.].

RECOMMENDED READING: The syllabus will include a list of recommended readings.

ASSIGNMENTS AND ASSESSMENT:

1. 1,100 pages of required reading. [This assignment is related to learning outcome #1]. [55 hours].
2. Student will select one book and write a three-page reflection paper (5%). [This assignment is related to outcomes #1, 3] [6 hours].
3. Preparation and preaching of two sermons. Sermons will be graded for content and presentation, they will also be carefully evaluated and discussed in the student’s lab groups. Sermon preparation includes the writing of exegetical journals and manuscripts, plus 5 hours of practicing and other prep per sermon. (40%) [This assignment is related to learning outcomes #1, 2, 3] [10 hours].
4. Submission of an exegetical journal and manuscript for each sermon (20%). [This assignment is related to learning outcome #1] [20 hours].
5. Students will attend two worship services (outside of their own) and write two critical reviews [1 p. each] of the sermon preached and the sermon’s relationship to the larger worship context (10%). [This assignment is related to learning outcome #4] [14 hours: 7.5 DLA hours plus 6.5 writing].
6. Attendance at all class sessions is mandatory, and grade will be reduced for absences not excused. [This assignment is related to learning outcome #2] [32.5 hours]
7. Students will write a five-page paper of their theology and philosophy of preaching, in conversation with those demonstrated in Course Reader articles on theology and with their denominational tradition’s teaching about preaching. (10%) [This assignment is related to learning outcome #1] [10 hours].
8. Students will write a one-page self-evaluation of each sermon they deliver, considering content and delivery. (5%) [This assignment is related to learning outcomes #2 and #3] [2.5 hours].
9. Students will write one-page reviews of two ancient sermons and two from the Reformation. (10%) [This assignment is related to learning outcome #1] [10 hours]

PREREQUISITES: None. At least one course in Biblical Studies recommended.

RELATIONSHIP TO CURRICULUM: Option to meet Worship, Preaching, and Communication requirement in the 80 MATM Program (Fall 2015). This course meets the requirements for CO500 and CO503 in any MA program requiring CO500 and CO503, and it meets the Communication requirement (COMM) in MA programs. This course will not meet the MIN2 or Homiletics requirement in the MDiv.

FINAL EXAMINATION: None.