DESCRIPTION: The course is designed to offer the maximum possible practical
experience in preaching and sermon preparation. The class will be limited to a
maximum of nine students. Each student will preach twice during the quarter.
Sermons are to be original work not previously presented for credit in
homiletics or other speech and preaching classes. Each sermon will be evaluated
and discussed by class members under the direction of the instructor. All
sermons will be recorded on video tape.
LEARNING OUTCOMES: Goals for this course are as follows: to provide a safe
environment for students to develop their communication skills; to assist
students in their ability to ground their sermons in a Biblical text; to assist
students in more effectively moving from the text to the audience in order to
connect with an audience.
RELEVANCE FOR MINISTRY: The spoken word remains an essential means of
communicating the gospel of Jesus Christ. Preaching is an essential element in
the ministry of the church, a task which all servants of Christ are called to
perform in one form or another.
COURSE FORMAT: The class will meet for a two-hour period each week. The first
part of each meeting will be spent in worship where two sermons will be
preached by members of the class. The class will then move to informal
surroundings where discussion of the sermons will follow in a relaxed
atmosphere. PLEASE NOTE: Class attendance is mandatory. If the class is
over-subscribed, the first two persons on the wait list should attend the first
class session.
REQUIRED READING: