Spring 2011 Pasadena
PR807/537
Schmit
PR807/537: PREACHING AND THE ARTS. Clayton J. Schmit.
DESCRIPTION: This is a doctoral seminar open to a limited number of masters'
level students by permission of the professor. The course will explore the
relationship between preaching and the arts. It will review literature relating
to the philosophy of art and aesthetics, theology and the arts, creative
preaching, and the relationship between preaching and music, drama, and
performance. It will provide students the opportunity to preach to their peers,
and it will serve as a laboratory for learning to teach homiletics from a
creative perspective.
SIGNIFICANCE FOR LIFE AND MINISTRY: While preaching and the teaching of
preaching is taught in seminaries across North America, particular attention to
the ways in which preaching relates to the arts is rarely addressed. This
seminar will help doctoral students acquire the theoretical insight to be able
to teach preaching with a sense of aesthetic responsibility.
LEARNING OUTCOMES: The course seeks the following goals for each student:
Cognitive: theoretical knowledge relating to preaching and its relationship
to the arts; Affective: deepened appreciation for the ways that
preaching engages the listener through the use of poetic and dramatic
elements; Skills: capacity to craft and deliver a sermon that is
scripturally, theologically, and contextually responsible and that demonstrates
an awareness of the effect of careful writing and performance on the
listener.
COURSE FORMAT: The course will meet weekly for a three-hour session. Students
will read and discuss key books, write responses, prepare a lecture on creative
preaching, and produce a final project. Assignments will be adjusted for
masters' students.
REQUIRED READING:
- Philosophy of Art
- Suzanne Langer, Philosophy in a New Key
(Harvard, 1957), 300 pages. ISBN: 0-674-66503-1, $28.00.
- Joseph Margolis, ed., Philosophy Looks at the Arts (Temple
University, 1978), select 200 pages. ISBN: 0-87722-439-0, $36.00.
- Art and Theology
- Samuel Wells, Improvisation: The Drama of Christian
Ethics (Brazos, 2004), 200 pages. ISBN: 1-58743-071-1, $21.00.
- Jeremy Begbie, Resounding Truth: Christian Wisdom in the World of
Music (Baker Academic, 2007), 300 pages. ISBN: 0-8010-2694-4,
$21.00.
- Preaching as Art
- Nora Tubbs Tisdale, Preaching as Local Theology and
Folk Art (Fortress, 1997), 150 pages. ISBN: 0-8006-2773-2, $14.25.
- Jana Childers, ed., Birthing the Sermon: Women Preachers on the Creative
Process (Chalice, 2001), 200 pages. ISBN: 0-8272-0230-X, $27.00.
- Clayton J. Schmit, Too Deep for Words: A Theology of Liturgical
Expression (Westminster John Knox, 2002), 200 pages. ISBN: 0-664-22392-3,
$25.00.
- Poetry and Preaching
- Anne Lamott, Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on
Writing and Life (Anchor, 1994) 200 pages ISBN:0-385-48001-6, $9.00.
- Annie Dillard, The Writing Life (Harper Perennial, 1990) 100 pages
ISBN: 0-06-016156-6, $10.00.
- Ronald and Debra Reinstra, Worship Words: Discipling Language for
Faithful Ministry (Baker Academic, 2009) 250 pages ISBN: 978-0-8010-3616-3,
$15.50.
- Music and Preaching
- Kirk Byron Jones, The Jazz of Preaching
(Abingdon, 2004) 100 pages ISBN:0-687-00252-4, $18.00.
- Performance, Drama, and Preaching
- Jana Childers, Performing the Word (Abingdon,
1998) 150 pages ISBN: 0-687-07423-1, $19.00.
- Richard Ward, Speaking from the Heart (Abingdon, 1992), 100 pages.
ISBN: 0-687-39166-0, $17.00.
- Jana Childers and Clayton J. Schmit, Performance and Preaching: Bringing
the Sermon to Life (Baker, 2008). 200 pages. ISBN: 978-0-8010-3613-2,
$18.00.
ASSIGNMENTS AND ASSESSMENT: Preparation and preaching of one sermon (10% of
grade). Leading of seminar discussion of one major book (10%). Preparation and
delivery of one lecture on some aspect of creative preaching (10%). Brief
written responses to and discussion of reading material (30%). Final paper
(40%).
PREREQUISITES: Master's level students: PR500 and written permission from the
professor.
RELATIONSHIP TO CURRICULUM: Elective.
This ECD is a reliable guide to the course design but is subject to modification. (January 2012)