Preaching Re-Imagined

I just finished reading Preaching Re-Imagined by Doug Pagitt.  The main idea of the book is that preachers need to move beyond the practice of delivering persuasive speeches based on a biblical text.  He calls this kind of preaching "speaching" and describes it in the following way:

The "speacher" stands in front of the "audience."  The speacher is the only one with a microphone and therefore the only one with the power to speak on the subject at hand.  The content of the speech has been decided on with little, if any, input from those who are hearing the speech, and the conclusions drawn are those drawn by the speacher and no one else. (p.48)

The alternative he suggests is called "progressional dialogue."  This concept is fairly simple.  Instead of doing all the talking, the preacher allows time for discussion.  Her opinion is not the only one that counts.  Preparation is not done by the pastor, alone in a study, with commentaries as basically her only source of information.  At Solomon's Porch, the church Doug Pagitt serves in, they have a gathering every Tuesday night where the passage for that week's "sermon" is reviewed and discussed.  This helps to shape the thoughts that Doug will share on the following Sunday. 

My only problem with the book is that it did not provide much in the way of "how to" information.  Most of the book is spent trying to convince us that preaching needs to be re-imagined.  Unfortunately, I began the book already convinced and was hoping for a little more in the form of practical suggestions.  I think that the author could have shared more insight about how he has made "progressional dialogue" work without being overly prescriptive.  Perhaps he could have even interviewed other pastors who are trending away from "speaching" in order to share what has worked for them.  I realize that there is always a danger of people thinking they should just mimic other ministries, but having personally experimented with this, I think that some more real life examples of what has worked would be helpful.

Overall, I recommend this book to anyone who preaches or is planning on preaching sometime in the future.  I'm convinced that some things need to change and I hope many more people will be, too.

Comments

[Kyle]

To hell with being practical!

[Bill]

I know, I know. It was just a moment of weakness, Kyle. I hereby go back to renouncing all things practical. ;-)

[john henson]

I just finished it as well. I agree that it would be nice if there was an appendix or chapter on what he has found to work/not work. I am experimenting with it at ou r church, which is new and in formation, which makes it easier to try. I wonder how an established church, with pews and all, would make it work with their architecture already fixed for speaching.

[James Paul]

I heard about this book a month ago or so. It sounded very interesting. I'll be "preaching" November 13th and 20th while my pastor is on Sabatical. I'm a little scared to be sharing for 30-40 minutes from the pulpit for the first time. Maybe I'll just go with what I know works. On the other hand, perhaps it would be helpful to the church if we tried something new!

Nice blog!

[Andy Rowell]

Bill,
Thanks for your comments on Preaching Re-Imagined. I especially agree that it would have been helpful if Doug would have interviewed and inquired about how other people are incorporating interaction into preaching. You are right as well about the lack of practical suggestions. He just tells us to consult people in planning and give some discussion time after the sermon. I have just reviewed it on my blog as well:

http://firstmovethyself.blogspot.com/2006/02/review-of-preaching-re-imagined-by.html