Allan Demond, Senior Pastor, NewHope Baptist Church | Lecturer in Preaching, Whitley College

There has long been a tension between Jerusalem and Athens – the spiritual and the technical– when discussing how we ought to teach preaching. It is often debated, how much we shouldattend to the science of rhetoric and the wisdom of technique on the one hand, and to mattersof theology and the dynamic presence of God in our preaching on the other hand. A sort of“truce” was reached by St. Augustine in his preaching “textbook”, De Doctrina Chirstiana wherehe argued the common sense view that both are important and need to coexist in our teachingpractice in a sort of creative tension. But that balance is not easily sustained. We see thependulum swinging one way in the late medieval period and then the other through theReformation era and debates concerning where the mid-point actually is continue to this day.This tension is important and rightly occupies a significant place in the homiletic literature.However, I have become increasingly interested in another, less discussed but in my viewequally important, aspect of our teaching.

See the full article (PDF): Imitation and learning to preach

Allan Demond, Senior Pastor, NewHope Baptist Church | Lecturer in Preaching, Whitley College

Ask accomplished preachers how they learned to preach and you are likely to hear aboutmentors and models not classrooms and textbooks. People learn how to preach from peoplewho preach…  This essay is about learning to preach by watching others, reflecting on practice, trying and failing forward, talking though actions, and fostering educationally fruitful relationships. It isabout using words and actions in the homiletic context in order to experience, and consequentlylearn to do, what is hardest (sometimes impossible) to say about preaching. This educational journey is called imitative practice.

See the full article (PDF): Still learning to preach