360-Degree Preaching: Hearing, Speaking, and Living the Word

by Michael J. Quicke

With 360-Degree Preaching, veteran preacher Michael Quicke brings expository preaching to a postmodern world. He has witnessed the transforming power of preaching firsthand for more than thirty years and seeks to encourage students and pastors as he teaches them the art of preaching.
Quicke examines the scriptural roots of preaching and its importance throughout church history. He analyzes the current situation and suggests that the way forward lies in a recommitment to preaching's trinitarian dynamic, which Quicke calls 360-degree preaching. The author then focuses on preaching practices and invites preachers to join in the "preaching swim": immersion into Scripture, interpretation, sermon design, sermon delivery, and outcomes.
360-Degree Preaching is a vital resource for preaching students preparing for ministry and pastors looking for fresh insight into communicating to postmodern listeners.

Genres: Nonfiction, Church

234 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 2003

Reviews

[Demetrius Rogers · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting book on preaching. The author picks up on what a lot of homiletic books leave off, and that's the dynamic nature of preaching. Granted, the author's metaphors didn't always work, and his overall scheme was a bit hard to follow, but his concepts are profound and very needed. He says on page 40, "Much contemporary preaching has become binitarian." By that he means the Holy Spirit has been largely overlooked and not depended on as much as He should. And then the author says on the same page, "21st century preaching needs less function and more unction."

The way he writes, I'm surprised he's not Pentecostal. His primary focus seems to be on the dynamism of the preaching event. Not just leading up to the sermon (the study and delivery), but, and perhaps, and even more importantly, its effect. Pentecostals have always been big on the altar call. And I think Quicke would be as well, but not limited to it either. One of my favorite quotes comes from page 120, when he says, "Effective preaching has a community dynamic as preacher and hearers respond to God's returning Word" (120). And hence the metaphor- 360-degree preaching. If preaching is only concerned with building a bridge between Scripture and hearers then preaching is only 180 degrees and will ultimately fall flat. But, he builds his model on the cycle of rain used in Isaiah 55:10-11. Rain falls to the earth but doesn't stop there; it rises back to God. And so does dynamic preaching "in the form of worship, witness, and service" (49). And the book explores the dynamism of effecting this final 180-degree response to God.

So, lots to apprehend here. This was not necessarily an easy read; not a one-and-done kind of book. But the more I reviewed my highlights, the more his message began to dawn on me. His nuggets are deep and I suspect two or three times through the material would help a person like me fully appreciate all that's being said. Highly recommended for those who produce and consume the preaching of God's Word on a regular basis.

[Sara Eames · Rating 4 out of 5]

A challenging book with plenty of practical advice, dynamic ideas and sensitive suggestions to the whole situation of being called to preach.

[Gabriel Davis · Rating 2 out of 5]

Pretty boring book for the most part, but there were definitely "nuggets" that created distinction between this text and others. I read this book immediately after finishing Chapell's book "Christ Centered Preaching" (a book I couldn't stop highlighting) so perhaps I was just a little done with studying sermon development. If you want to get to the largest portion of meat in the book read chapter 7 (the preaching swim). Mostly mediocre book with some good emphases (Holy Spirit dependent preaching). Overall, I would highly recommend Chapell's book as an alternative.

[Seth Pierce · Rating 3 out of 5]

A great book for beginners, but advanced students would be better off reading the books he cites. The most helpful section is where he graphs some of the flow of various organizational methods for sermons. Like Sweet, he takes his metaphors a little too far and ends up being fairly generic.

A good resource for undergraduate students or laity with experience.

[Bill Ver Velde · Rating 4 out of 5]

Started off slow and was unnecessarily heady. There is an overload of info and Quicke probably could have said what he wanted to say in half the length. This book gets much more practical halfway through around chapter 7. This more practical second half bumped what would have been a three star rating up to a four. Overall the second half is much more enjoyable than the first half.

[Nicholas Abraham · Rating 2 out of 5]

The better nuggets of this book were not original thoughts from the author, but things he quoted. I’m not entirely sure he explained what 360 degree preaching actually is.

[David Hardin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted to like it more than I did. After finishing it feel like there wasn't much there. It seems like most of the stuff advocated I was familiar with. Maybe I've been reading too many books on preaching lately.

Felt like the book was full of stuff I already do or know I should do. Maybe I have read it other places or it has been modeled to me or I just instinctively knew it (probably a combination of these things).

I can see if you are very inexperienced and looking for some ideas on how to put together and more important live a sermon it could be helpful.

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall this book was very helpful towards my outlook on preaching and my development in sermon crafting. There were moments where the book was dull, but it evened out with some incredible portions of insight. I loved that the author constantly emphasized the importance of the Holy Spirit's work in our preparation and venture in exegesis, hermeneutics and homiletics.

[Walter Lanier]

Great book articulating the critical importance of the preached word.

[Isaiah Jesch · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an assigned work for my Homiletics I course in my undergraduate degree. I found it to be a decent read, not the best book on preaching I have ever read, but a good resource.

[Richard Demsick · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ironically as with many sermons, the problem isn't a lack of helpful information but an arduous format with far too much information.