My Preaching Class

Our class is held in the chapel at the Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology so we understand that there is no "pretend" preaching. My professor, Father Serge Propst, self describes as dyslexic and somewhat autistic, a fly fisher, and a lover of the church and St. John Chrysostom, Archbishop of Constantinople. Chrysostom, an Early Church Father, is known for his eloquence in preaching and public speaking, his denunciation of abuse of authority by both ecclesiastical and political leaders, the Divine Liturgy attributed to him, and his ascetic sensibilities. He was given the Greek surname chrysostomos, meaning "golden mouthed", rendered in English as Chrysostom.

My classmates are seven young men, three in robes, and all about my son, Sean's age.  And me.  I was a little intimidated until I realized that most of their future congregations are going to be women just like me.

Here are some of my notes from the first class that outline Father Serge's understanding of preaching.  As a Dominican priest, he has spent his professional life preaching through out the world, including working with Mother Teresa in Calcutta. 

Preaching is not public speaking; the focus is on Jesus, with the goal to create an encounter with Jesus in the proclamation of the sacred text. The preacher and the listener are transfigured by the embrace of love/grace. This s a personal and public witness on one’s faith—intimate revelation of one’s faith, vulnerable to acceptance or rejection. Your life is an example of your preaching and your personal transformation through the Word. After the third week of class we will preach every week!

Jesus is there--dynamic, active, the event, the encounter. Preaching speaks from heart to heart. You must preach what you are devoted to, the goal is touching hearts. It is meaning making, experienced, embodied and shared. St. John defines salvation as knowing Jesus, constant interaction. We must mix it up with Jesus, with prayer as the Cuisinart, to make salsa. Preaching is an invitation to prayer in this way.

Faith is strengthened when it is given to others. Preaching is a salvific act, transformative, an embrace of love.

Prayer is a dialogue with Jesus.  Preaching is a dialogue with each other about the meaning.  It should always be followed by celebration, in blessing, sharing food, and experiencing joy.

In Preparation: must feel the need of the congregation in ourselves, see our own capacity for sin, for need, then we must encounter the text, watch for the possibility of transformation, catalyst—how—where.  When the text is proclaimed the person and the Holy Spirit remember together, the Holy Spirit remembers with us, in the eternal now.

In the Liturgy, it is the primacy of meaning, not the primacy of performance. Father Serge definition of paganism is emphasis on doing the rite correctly regardless of meaning, that this is central to pagan practice. Preaching is where the grace of the text meets the need in the person, the need in the congregation. This is grace encountering a concrete need. We should never separate the preaching from the text.

Keep a sharp eye on the agenda-who’s is it. Do not suppress the meaning of the text. Avoid baldly or badly proclaiming the text. Do not fail to connect the grace with the need, remember we may need to awaken ourselves to the need, i.e. bigotry, Make it bread fresh from the oven. Do not give God’s people stale left overs. When you do,  you are neglecting the people you are preaching to, including yourself.

So far this class has been wonderful. Father Serge first wanted us to work on our 'proclamation' skills.  He sees this as the first step in preaching--to be able to read the text effectively to the congregation.  So he assigned each of us three texts: a sort children's book Ollie the Eel, the poem by Shelley, Ozymandias,  and part of a sermon by St. John Chrysostom.  We then presented then to the class.  It was fun and, of course, we were all nervous.  I will preach my first sermon to the class on Tuesday, 10-12-10.  I'll post a copy and let you know what feedback I receive.