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Preaching as Local Theology and Folk Art
Explains how to analyze a congregation so the sermon really fits the listeners. Provides practical helps for preparing and delivering sermons that are meaningful and appropriate.
176 pages, Paperback
First published December 1, 1996
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
April 19, 2025
Very helpful message directed towards young ministers that are straight out of or in seminary who are active in local congregations. When you’ve been excited about academics and things you’ve been learning it’s easy to get discouraged or annoyed when you find that your congregants do not have the same interests or questions. Instead of blaming congregants, Tisdale helps the young minister realize, more often than not, “It’s me, hi. I’m the problem, it’s me.”
Tisdale offers helpful insight through conversations with theologians and sociologists alike. Experiencing a new church often leads to culture shock for the minister, especially for an inexperienced one like me. When your sermons aren’t landing, Tisdale helps push preachers to practice not only exegesis of the texts but of the congregation itself. Preaching Local Theology and Folk Art is about putting on the hat of a novice “ethnographer” and “divine investigator” who looks for the exceptional within the ordinary of every day churches. Even in private study, the minister must act as a “priestly listener/questioner” who anticipates the needs of saints as a sermon is prepared. If preachers meet their fellow saints where they are, understand what they value most, and communicate Scripture in their own language with meaningful symbols, their preaching will be both imaginable and transformative to the congregation.
Knocked one star off this one for it being a little too wordy at times. I mean the book is about trying to be more relatable to everyday people and sometimes I just wished Tisdale attempted to not act like a Princeton professor for two seconds and be a little more folksy.
Overall, a helpful and insightful read, especially for the target audience. Not everything in here will be something I use or come back to but I feel like I have added some tools to my tool belt.
Tisdale offers helpful insight through conversations with theologians and sociologists alike. Experiencing a new church often leads to culture shock for the minister, especially for an inexperienced one like me. When your sermons aren’t landing, Tisdale helps push preachers to practice not only exegesis of the texts but of the congregation itself. Preaching Local Theology and Folk Art is about putting on the hat of a novice “ethnographer” and “divine investigator” who looks for the exceptional within the ordinary of every day churches. Even in private study, the minister must act as a “priestly listener/questioner” who anticipates the needs of saints as a sermon is prepared. If preachers meet their fellow saints where they are, understand what they value most, and communicate Scripture in their own language with meaningful symbols, their preaching will be both imaginable and transformative to the congregation.
Knocked one star off this one for it being a little too wordy at times. I mean the book is about trying to be more relatable to everyday people and sometimes I just wished Tisdale attempted to not act like a Princeton professor for two seconds and be a little more folksy.
Overall, a helpful and insightful read, especially for the target audience. Not everything in here will be something I use or come back to but I feel like I have added some tools to my tool belt.
May 26, 2017
Loved this book on preaching as local theology and how to exegete a congregation. Dr. Tisdale is often speaking more to academics and responding to academics than she is to ministers in this book, yet it still contains very helpful information. I recommend this to anyone who wants a balance in their preaching--so often homiletics is taught as exegeting a text, but rarely does the audience come into play in forming a sermon. Dr. Tisdale shows why local theology (in the form of a sermon) is vital.
December 4, 2016
Leonora Tubbs Tisdale is very conscientious of our need to practice and preach in an appropriate context. She recounts how she and her husband went to South Korea as missionaries for a year and how they were prepared through interacting with people of Korean ancestry and through taking classes to better understand the culture, its values and its language. However, when she and her husband began ministering in four rural churches in the northeastern United States, Tisdale found that she experienced an unexpected “culture shock” because she couldn’t connect well with country, blue-collar types. She didn’t know how to address the questions and values they cherished (this book was published in 1997 but we can glimpse the cosmopolitan-country divide that came out in the 2016 election) and she notes that the examples and illustrations that her seminary professors had recommended she employ were city-centric (a young woman serving in ministry in a rural community came by the bookstore I work at one day and commented that the author who really spoke to the people in her church was Wendell Berry). Seminaries may train prospective pastors in the minutiae of exegesis, Christian history, and Karl Barth, but often this is a world away from the “common sense” ethos of those in the congregation (in fact, Tisdale humourously recounts how one of her country congregants thought she was referencing “Karl Marx,” not “Karl Barth,” during one of her sermons, the congregant not knowing who Barth was, p. 8, 129). This is an important point. For some years now I’ve had this imaginary figure in my mind who is a chain-smoking grandmother who works at Wal-Mart and lives in a trailer park in Kentucky and who is a more devout Christian than I am in order to keep me grounded and not egocentric. At the same time, part of preaching is also teaching and I think the pastor has a role to elucidate and instruct their congregants; we are holistic beings and preaching should balance warming hearts with sharpening minds.
Tisdale draws heavily upon cultural anthropology in explaining that some people are “1) like all others,” “2) like no others,” and “3) like some others” (p. 11). Thus, there are certain universals we can generally assume, but we must also be aware of contested beliefs and practices and the reality of individual uniqueness. This focus on the importance of contextualization is predominant throughout her book. She asserts a highly poetic, eloquent sermon that inspires an upper-middle-class congregation may flop when given in a church made up of mostly blue-collar types and what appeals to the blue-collar types might not connect with those in the upper-middle-class church. Tisdale also draws attention to the emerging, interdisciplinary field of “congregational studies” which “weds the social sciences (cultural anthropology, sociology, social psychology, organizational development) and theology in an effort to gain a better understanding of congregational identity and action” (p. 29). She believes congregations need prophets, poets, and professional theologians, each guiding and offering their gifts to the church in their own unique ways (p. 54).
Pastors occupy a strange position within the congregation as both “outsider” and “insider” (p. 49-52). They wield spiritual authority that sets them apart but Tisdale notes that as pastors serve and care for their congregants, they also come to know the messiness of their lives (p. 11-12). Large services can sometimes have such a vast assortment of people, including guests, that sermons may be more to a generalized audience, but in a smaller congregation how does a pastor preach on divorce when they are well-aware one of their worship leaders and his wife are going through a divorce? This is a sobering point to stress as I sometimes think I would be too timid to preach a sermon with a particular individual or couple in mind; preaching a generalized sermon allows for the safety of anonymity but it also foregoes the possibility of personal, intentional connection.
While denominations often have their own subculture, congregations themselves have their own subculture, or even subcultures. The subculture is established by an “idiom,” both verbal (e.g. favourite worship songs) and nonverbal (rituals, arts worship, etc…). While preachers often do not come from the same subculture as their congregation, they have a duty to preach to that subculture, or subcultures (p. 15-16). Some churches are more oriented towards social justice, others towards doctrine. This is one of the quandaries with affirming diversity because sometimes this is simply lip-service. I do think every church has a generation orientation in its identity, but if anything, a church that acknowledges its strength should be even more intentional about shoring up its areas of weakness. Preaching has a direct effect on this since sermons that are more doctrinal attract those more interested in theology while those that stress the social gospel attract those committed to social justice. Tisdale exhorts pastors to proclaim the faith in its relation to the wider, historic Church, as well as Christians in the Majority World, while also composing their sermons with attentive detail to their congregation’s “local theology” (p. 39). Tisdale emphatically champions stories as a way to understand the ethos and identity of a congregation (p. 65-67).
Tisdale shows us how congregations interpret and understand metaphysical questions relating to God, theology and the Church. She exhorts preachers to pay attention to seven areas within their congregation: 1) view of God (theology, Christology, pneumatology) 2) view of humanity (theological anthropology) 3) view of nature (theology of Creation) 4) view of time (eschatology) 5) view of the Church (ecclesiology) 6) view of Christian mission (evangelism, missiology, social ethics) and 7) interrelationships among the above concerns (cosmology, soteriology, revelation) (p. 80-86). Within this list, she breaks down different perspectives; for instance, regarding time, do people in the congregation most orient themselves to the past, the present, or to the future?
Another astute point Tisdale makes is that pastors often point to great saints as models of Christian living and obedience. Mother Teresa or Martin Luther King Jr. are pointed to as paragons of Christianity. The Olympia Eric Liddell is acclaimed for his faithfulness and commitment to the fourth commandment to “honour the Sabbath” (though I suspect most evangelicals today would say he could have, just for that one week, moved his Sabbath to a Monday or Thursday since we’re pretty fluid with how we interpret that commandment these days). But the point is that these are larger-than-life figures who can seem impossible to emulate. Preachers may find such figures helpful to reference due to their name recognition, but it is even better if preachers can find examples of individuals in their congregations who model faithful Christian living because these people are members of the church and thus more relatable and approachable.
Tisdale tends to use the example of a scholarly, cosmopolitan preacher fresh out of seminary who is placed in a congregation of country-folk or blue-collar types. While it is often the case that the preacher has a greater degree of biblical and theological education, not all preachers are seminary-trained. Additionally, no effort is made to explain how a preacher from a rural community who becomes a pastor in a thriving downtown congregation is supposed to adopt that locale’s ethos; the assumption is always that the pastor condescends to the congregation. This is true, I think, as Paul writes about the need to “become all things to all men” (1 Cor. 9:22), but the danger in this is to also keep feeding the congregation milk instead of moving on to meat (1 Cor. 3:2). Pastors do challenge congregants to pursue lives of greater holiness, generosity, hospitality, etc…but do they challenge them to become better theologians (everyone is a theologian). This is the fundamental tension – preachers should condescend, but also challenge, and if God is really “God in my everything,” that must be applied holistically, not just to the practicalities and routines of daily life, but also to how we critically think and engage with the world. A pastor may think s/he is helping avoid the culture wars by not preaching on politics, but in the vacuum, impressionable Christians can be tempted by the strong man. If the pastor believes the sermon is not the place for deeper biblical and theological exposition, does the church offer adult Sunday school classes that can fill this need?
One wonders if Tisdale sometimes overstates the importance of “local theology” and contextualization. She is correct, I think, in advocating that preachers pay attention to the subculture(s) in their congregation, but subculture(s) can be fluid; indeed, often the pastor exercises tremendous influence over a congregation’s “local theology.” If a pastor is a talented spoken word artist, he may introduce more ways for artists in the congregation to show and share their work and incorporate it into worship. How long-lasting is a congregation’s “local theology,” especially in a metropolis that has a transient Christian populace and frequent changes to the church’s staff? Even denominational distinctives, which used to play a significant role in congregational identity, have dissipated as the Christian who grew up Baptist switches to a hip new Anglican church plant before settling into a neighbourhood Presbyterian church.
I truly do appreciate this book and its championing of “local theology and folk art.” I’ve become snobbish when it comes to literature (the form of art I most gravitate towards) but “folk art” is different from bad art like Thomas Kinkade or “The Shack.” It reflects the beauty of down-to-earth, amateur-yet-authentic, creativity and tradition. This was also the first book on preaching I read and I majored in sociology in undergrad so I really did appreciate the way she wove homiletics, contextualization, and ethnography together.
Tisdale draws heavily upon cultural anthropology in explaining that some people are “1) like all others,” “2) like no others,” and “3) like some others” (p. 11). Thus, there are certain universals we can generally assume, but we must also be aware of contested beliefs and practices and the reality of individual uniqueness. This focus on the importance of contextualization is predominant throughout her book. She asserts a highly poetic, eloquent sermon that inspires an upper-middle-class congregation may flop when given in a church made up of mostly blue-collar types and what appeals to the blue-collar types might not connect with those in the upper-middle-class church. Tisdale also draws attention to the emerging, interdisciplinary field of “congregational studies” which “weds the social sciences (cultural anthropology, sociology, social psychology, organizational development) and theology in an effort to gain a better understanding of congregational identity and action” (p. 29). She believes congregations need prophets, poets, and professional theologians, each guiding and offering their gifts to the church in their own unique ways (p. 54).
Pastors occupy a strange position within the congregation as both “outsider” and “insider” (p. 49-52). They wield spiritual authority that sets them apart but Tisdale notes that as pastors serve and care for their congregants, they also come to know the messiness of their lives (p. 11-12). Large services can sometimes have such a vast assortment of people, including guests, that sermons may be more to a generalized audience, but in a smaller congregation how does a pastor preach on divorce when they are well-aware one of their worship leaders and his wife are going through a divorce? This is a sobering point to stress as I sometimes think I would be too timid to preach a sermon with a particular individual or couple in mind; preaching a generalized sermon allows for the safety of anonymity but it also foregoes the possibility of personal, intentional connection.
While denominations often have their own subculture, congregations themselves have their own subculture, or even subcultures. The subculture is established by an “idiom,” both verbal (e.g. favourite worship songs) and nonverbal (rituals, arts worship, etc…). While preachers often do not come from the same subculture as their congregation, they have a duty to preach to that subculture, or subcultures (p. 15-16). Some churches are more oriented towards social justice, others towards doctrine. This is one of the quandaries with affirming diversity because sometimes this is simply lip-service. I do think every church has a generation orientation in its identity, but if anything, a church that acknowledges its strength should be even more intentional about shoring up its areas of weakness. Preaching has a direct effect on this since sermons that are more doctrinal attract those more interested in theology while those that stress the social gospel attract those committed to social justice. Tisdale exhorts pastors to proclaim the faith in its relation to the wider, historic Church, as well as Christians in the Majority World, while also composing their sermons with attentive detail to their congregation’s “local theology” (p. 39). Tisdale emphatically champions stories as a way to understand the ethos and identity of a congregation (p. 65-67).
Tisdale shows us how congregations interpret and understand metaphysical questions relating to God, theology and the Church. She exhorts preachers to pay attention to seven areas within their congregation: 1) view of God (theology, Christology, pneumatology) 2) view of humanity (theological anthropology) 3) view of nature (theology of Creation) 4) view of time (eschatology) 5) view of the Church (ecclesiology) 6) view of Christian mission (evangelism, missiology, social ethics) and 7) interrelationships among the above concerns (cosmology, soteriology, revelation) (p. 80-86). Within this list, she breaks down different perspectives; for instance, regarding time, do people in the congregation most orient themselves to the past, the present, or to the future?
Another astute point Tisdale makes is that pastors often point to great saints as models of Christian living and obedience. Mother Teresa or Martin Luther King Jr. are pointed to as paragons of Christianity. The Olympia Eric Liddell is acclaimed for his faithfulness and commitment to the fourth commandment to “honour the Sabbath” (though I suspect most evangelicals today would say he could have, just for that one week, moved his Sabbath to a Monday or Thursday since we’re pretty fluid with how we interpret that commandment these days). But the point is that these are larger-than-life figures who can seem impossible to emulate. Preachers may find such figures helpful to reference due to their name recognition, but it is even better if preachers can find examples of individuals in their congregations who model faithful Christian living because these people are members of the church and thus more relatable and approachable.
Tisdale tends to use the example of a scholarly, cosmopolitan preacher fresh out of seminary who is placed in a congregation of country-folk or blue-collar types. While it is often the case that the preacher has a greater degree of biblical and theological education, not all preachers are seminary-trained. Additionally, no effort is made to explain how a preacher from a rural community who becomes a pastor in a thriving downtown congregation is supposed to adopt that locale’s ethos; the assumption is always that the pastor condescends to the congregation. This is true, I think, as Paul writes about the need to “become all things to all men” (1 Cor. 9:22), but the danger in this is to also keep feeding the congregation milk instead of moving on to meat (1 Cor. 3:2). Pastors do challenge congregants to pursue lives of greater holiness, generosity, hospitality, etc…but do they challenge them to become better theologians (everyone is a theologian). This is the fundamental tension – preachers should condescend, but also challenge, and if God is really “God in my everything,” that must be applied holistically, not just to the practicalities and routines of daily life, but also to how we critically think and engage with the world. A pastor may think s/he is helping avoid the culture wars by not preaching on politics, but in the vacuum, impressionable Christians can be tempted by the strong man. If the pastor believes the sermon is not the place for deeper biblical and theological exposition, does the church offer adult Sunday school classes that can fill this need?
One wonders if Tisdale sometimes overstates the importance of “local theology” and contextualization. She is correct, I think, in advocating that preachers pay attention to the subculture(s) in their congregation, but subculture(s) can be fluid; indeed, often the pastor exercises tremendous influence over a congregation’s “local theology.” If a pastor is a talented spoken word artist, he may introduce more ways for artists in the congregation to show and share their work and incorporate it into worship. How long-lasting is a congregation’s “local theology,” especially in a metropolis that has a transient Christian populace and frequent changes to the church’s staff? Even denominational distinctives, which used to play a significant role in congregational identity, have dissipated as the Christian who grew up Baptist switches to a hip new Anglican church plant before settling into a neighbourhood Presbyterian church.
I truly do appreciate this book and its championing of “local theology and folk art.” I’ve become snobbish when it comes to literature (the form of art I most gravitate towards) but “folk art” is different from bad art like Thomas Kinkade or “The Shack.” It reflects the beauty of down-to-earth, amateur-yet-authentic, creativity and tradition. This was also the first book on preaching I read and I majored in sociology in undergrad so I really did appreciate the way she wove homiletics, contextualization, and ethnography together.
December 16, 2016
Tisdale addresses a much needed topic in the area of ministry and preaching. She seeks to help a local preacher/pastor wed awareness of the text (what we learn in school) with awareness of our location (what we learn in the school of experience). Overall, she accomplishes her task by reminding us that we are obligated to exegete both and wed them together if we are to accomplish our calling of speaking a living word to living people in a living situation.
Unfortunately (for me), she didn't always distinguish well the difference between academic and/or theoretical approaches and the practical application. Sometimes she drove solidly in the theoretical lane and occasionally in the the practical lane. I wanted more examples of what the theoretical might actually look like...or less of the academic foundation...I wasn't always sure which.
But, in light of the absence of much help out there, this is certainly worth spending time with, if you are willing to provide your own thoughtful reflection of what these principles might look like in your own setting.
Unfortunately (for me), she didn't always distinguish well the difference between academic and/or theoretical approaches and the practical application. Sometimes she drove solidly in the theoretical lane and occasionally in the the practical lane. I wanted more examples of what the theoretical might actually look like...or less of the academic foundation...I wasn't always sure which.
But, in light of the absence of much help out there, this is certainly worth spending time with, if you are willing to provide your own thoughtful reflection of what these principles might look like in your own setting.
October 6, 2020
As pastors work with congregations, they need practical ways to analyze the culture and subculture of the congregation and community so that they can preach more relevantly. In Preaching as Local Theology and Folk Art, Leonora Tubbs Tisdale discusses the disconnect that sometimes occurs between preachers and their congregations and advocates for greater contextuality in preaching. She argues that proclaiming the gospel in relevant and transformative ways requires preachers to become adept at exegeting their congregation and its context, and then goes on to describe ways to accomplish this through questions and research. While the book lacks practical guidelines for transforming the information gathered into tangible metaphors and short stories that can then be used within sermons, I would still recommend this as a good reference book especially for first time pastors especially when paired with A Sermon Workbook by Tisdale and Thomas H. Troeger which gives more concrete exercises.
March 23, 2018
An important work on the neglected task of exegeting the congregation / recipient of the preached message.
November 6, 2015
I recently re-read Preaching as Local Theology and Folk Art. This was one of my favorite books in seminary and now that I'm in my first full-time preaching ministry, I wanted to see how it held up in the actual practice of full-time ministry. What I found is how much this book has already influenced and continues to influence my thinking and approach to preaching.
Tisdale insists that preachers must become as adept at "exegeting local congregations" as they are at exegeting biblical texts. In order to proclaim the gospel in a way that is "seriously imaginable" for a particular group of people, the preacher must learn to carefully attend to the particularities of the culture in which she or he finds herself or himself. Tisdale, borrowing from the field of cultural anthropology, offers several strategies to assist local pastors with this work of "congregational exegesis." In her estimation, it is this three way intersection - the careful analysis of a congregation's culture, the thoughtful study and reflection on biblical texts, and the mysterious workings of the Holy Spirit - that provides the conditions to birth a truly contextual preaching ministry. That is, sermons in which the gospel is proclaimed in such a way that it is heard "in the native language" of the hearers. This kind of preaching has the best possibility of joining God's creative work in transforming local congregations to provide a viable Christian witness in the midst of the local context in which they find themselves.
Sadly, given the current trend of multi-site church campuses, on-line churches, and Teaching Pastors whose reach is expected to be near universal, Tisdale's thesis may be getting buried beneath the dust of the steady progression of time and changing circumstances. There is much to be excited about concerning innovative churches that are finding creative ways to respond to globalization and who are embracing technology as an avenue to expand the reach of the gospel. However, what stands to be lost are pastors and churches who are dedicated to finding local expressions of faith and practice that pay attention to the beautiful and various manifestations of local culture around the world. Instead of a response to globalization that celebrates and highlights the wonderful diversity of God's creative expression found in cultures, these efforts run the risk of "flattening out" the language and practice of faith so that all local expressions of faith become subsumed by the majority culture.
Another creative response to the challenges and opportunities arising from globalization is for churches and pastors to ask - not how do we make our reach universal? - but how do we make it very, very local? How do we respond to the particular gifts and particular challenges of a particular set of people called to serve a very particular community? In this way, churches might be equipped with language, practices, and theology that already places them in conversation and contact with their neighbors. Paul may have been called to "be all things to all people," but the local pastors and elders who preached, taught, loved, and served the local congregations he established were no less a part of God's ministry to the world. If your ministry, like mine, is less akin to a globe trotting missionary or visionary multi-site church planter and more akin to one of these local pastors, I highly recommend this book.
Tisdale insists that preachers must become as adept at "exegeting local congregations" as they are at exegeting biblical texts. In order to proclaim the gospel in a way that is "seriously imaginable" for a particular group of people, the preacher must learn to carefully attend to the particularities of the culture in which she or he finds herself or himself. Tisdale, borrowing from the field of cultural anthropology, offers several strategies to assist local pastors with this work of "congregational exegesis." In her estimation, it is this three way intersection - the careful analysis of a congregation's culture, the thoughtful study and reflection on biblical texts, and the mysterious workings of the Holy Spirit - that provides the conditions to birth a truly contextual preaching ministry. That is, sermons in which the gospel is proclaimed in such a way that it is heard "in the native language" of the hearers. This kind of preaching has the best possibility of joining God's creative work in transforming local congregations to provide a viable Christian witness in the midst of the local context in which they find themselves.
Sadly, given the current trend of multi-site church campuses, on-line churches, and Teaching Pastors whose reach is expected to be near universal, Tisdale's thesis may be getting buried beneath the dust of the steady progression of time and changing circumstances. There is much to be excited about concerning innovative churches that are finding creative ways to respond to globalization and who are embracing technology as an avenue to expand the reach of the gospel. However, what stands to be lost are pastors and churches who are dedicated to finding local expressions of faith and practice that pay attention to the beautiful and various manifestations of local culture around the world. Instead of a response to globalization that celebrates and highlights the wonderful diversity of God's creative expression found in cultures, these efforts run the risk of "flattening out" the language and practice of faith so that all local expressions of faith become subsumed by the majority culture.
Another creative response to the challenges and opportunities arising from globalization is for churches and pastors to ask - not how do we make our reach universal? - but how do we make it very, very local? How do we respond to the particular gifts and particular challenges of a particular set of people called to serve a very particular community? In this way, churches might be equipped with language, practices, and theology that already places them in conversation and contact with their neighbors. Paul may have been called to "be all things to all people," but the local pastors and elders who preached, taught, loved, and served the local congregations he established were no less a part of God's ministry to the world. If your ministry, like mine, is less akin to a globe trotting missionary or visionary multi-site church planter and more akin to one of these local pastors, I highly recommend this book.
October 20, 2008
A good and important book when it comes to preaching. Every preaching book I have read has always mentioned the importance of "relating to your audience," but this book takes it a step farther. In a world where mega church pastors can be downloaded on the internet one begins to wonder why one goes to church at all. Why go hear a sermon by an average speaker who bobbles his words when I can get a person who has been educated in communications? Well this book bores a huge hole in the idea that "universal" modes of media (i.e. Mega church pastors, internet, radio, televangelists) can help you explore your life with God in your context. This book is written for the pastor (person in ministry) who is trying to get their congregation to live out God's call in their particular context.
March 28, 2016
Worthwhile read on contextualization for preaching.
January 28, 2019
Tisdale's approach to looking at the local church as the place to start for sermon topics and illustrations is not a new concept. However, Tisdale teaches you how to look at the local church. This book is an important one to read for the purpose of congregational exegesis. All pastors should look at their congregation in light of Tisdale's seven symbols to develop a thick description of their congregation. Developing this understanding of your congregation is beneficial not only for preaching but also for pastoral care, leadership, and visioning for the local church.
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