Celebration & Experience in Preaching: Revised Edition

by Henry H. Mitchell

Henry H. Mitchell’s great contribution to the study of preaching has been his insistence that the homiletical practices of the Black church are gifts to the whole church. Nowhere has he made this point more forcefully than in Celebration and Experience in Preaching . In this classic text he advocates a way of preaching that genuinely engages all aspects of the congregation’s attention, especially the ability to both understand and to feel the sermon’s message. In this revised edition Mitchell builds on this groundbreaking work by examining in greater depth the multiple ways in which we experience the preached word, by defining the different kinds of claim on the behavior of the hearer that biblical texts express, and by exploring various genres of sermon to discover the concrete manifestations of celebration and experience.

151 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2008

Reviews

[Jonathan Franz · Rating 3 out of 5]

The premise of the book that Christianity in the West must take a more active role in considering a person holistically, especially in preaching, is worthy of deep consideration. The latter part of the book that deals with the theology of preaching with emotion is deeply thought provoking, but one wishes that this theological consideration would have come first because without it, the first part of the book lacks a clear unifying thought or explanation of purpose.

[Ryan Linkous · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is stimulating little book on preaching. Mitchell's two main goals are 1) For the preacher to be concerned with a singular behavioral purpose in each sermon. 2) For the preacher to be aware that the Holy Spirit operates on the intuitive dimension of the person and thus preaching needs to be celebrational (emotional), although he isn't advocating for an anti-intellectualism in sermons.

The most helpful things he does are: 1) provide a number of practical tips in this book especially suggestions for illustrations in narrative sermons. 2) Remind us that preaching and faith are not simply cognitive activities.

However, I don't agree with his theology of preaching. I definitely agree that humans aren't just cognitive, but I don't believe the Holy Spirit's work should be relegated to the emotional realm. Also, Mitchell has a deficient understanding of sin. Also, his philosophy of the sermon as having its main goal to create behavioral change misses the point. A sermon is proclamation so that people will see God. Once the listener encounters, it will lead to change. Mitchell believes that every sermon should end with celebration and be positive, but this doesn't allow the Bible to actually govern our sermons.