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Preaching Re-Imagined: The Role of the Sermon in Communities of Faith
Are we preaching too much, engaging too little? What is the role of preaching in the postmodern Church? Author and pastor Doug Pagitt looks at the kind of preaching that 'creates followers of God who serve the world well and live the invitation to the rhythm of God.' He introduces you to an approach to engaging with the Bible with a focus on three -What kind of communities are we forming? (Sociology) -What story are we telling? (Theology) -How can we tell it more effectively? (Communications) These questions are asked through the introduction of Progressional Implicatory Preaching---an innovative way of catalyzing an open dialogue with active participants. Envision Preaching Re-Imagined as an agent in the creation of Christian communities, and take a hopeful look toward new approaches to encouraging the spiritual formation of your church body.
- GenresReligion
256 pages, Hardcover
Published August 16, 2005
33 people want to read
About the author
Doug Pagitt
24 books7 followersDoug Pagitt is the head pastor of Solomon's Porch in South Minneapolis and a Senior Fellow with Emergent Village: a generative friendship of missional church leaders around the world and a leading architect of the emergent church discussion.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
April 26, 2022
I loved the concept of this book. Preaching certainly needs to be reimagined in postmodern church communities.
However, I struggled with the way that this book was structured. While there was helpful information and ideas presented, it was done in a way that was confusing and a bit off-putting at times. Then, just when I was hoping for some practical end to the book where the author brought all of his thoughts together, it ended as suddenly as it began.
I still managed to gain some valuable ideas to try and implement in my own communities, but I will need to be creative in finding the best ways to do so (perhaps this was the author's intention all along.
All in all, I still think that this book is a valuable read to pastors and preachers in the postmodern world. It confronts the traditional norms of preaching (speech-making) and challenges the reader to consider new ways of communicating as religious communities.
However, I struggled with the way that this book was structured. While there was helpful information and ideas presented, it was done in a way that was confusing and a bit off-putting at times. Then, just when I was hoping for some practical end to the book where the author brought all of his thoughts together, it ended as suddenly as it began.
I still managed to gain some valuable ideas to try and implement in my own communities, but I will need to be creative in finding the best ways to do so (perhaps this was the author's intention all along.
All in all, I still think that this book is a valuable read to pastors and preachers in the postmodern world. It confronts the traditional norms of preaching (speech-making) and challenges the reader to consider new ways of communicating as religious communities.
September 22, 2017
A good example of why the emergent movement has nothing ultimately to offer Christianity. Asks searching questions but has no answers
December 1, 2009
This is the first book I've read by Pagitt. The title grabbed my attention because it's pretty obvious that a one-man-monologue is not usually the most effective way to teach/learn information. I believe there must be various modes of interaction with the material (question, dialogue, experience, etc.) for it to be learned and lived.
I assumed that Pagitt was advocating a form of preaching that incorporated those elements in the transmission of the message, but instead he insists, "The good news [gospel:] is not informational" (p. 103) and "People's lives are not changed by the information they get" (p. 163). I have 3 responses:
1) News is information.
2) Information changes people's lives - for instance, when my wife told me the news that she was pregnant it changed everything.
3) How can an author write a book full of information promoting a change when he doesn't believe that information changes people's lives?
Pagitt says (and I agree), the "whole point of preaching is to help people grow in their understanding of God and how we are to live as God's people and to empower the church to live out God's mission" (p. 162). Describing his own practice of preaching, he says, "I talk for awhile, then I invite others to comment, ask questions, offer clarifications, and so on. If I've done my job, people are thinking and talking about faith issues in a new way, and that thinking will lead them to new considerations" (p. 199). This is similar to the way that every preaching pastor I know would describe his own role, so I fail to see how his ideas can be described as a "re-imagining" of preaching.
His stated goal is "not to convince people that speaching [pre-planned, one-way monologue:] is a failure as much as...trying to provide a new way of thinking for those who've already concluded such but don't have the words to go with their intuition" (p. 114). But all he really does is encourage listeners to practice active-listening skills and preachers to be involved in the day-to-day lives of their listeners. This is hardly revolutionary stuff and it certainly doesn't require my imagination to be involved.
I assumed that Pagitt was advocating a form of preaching that incorporated those elements in the transmission of the message, but instead he insists, "The good news [gospel:] is not informational" (p. 103) and "People's lives are not changed by the information they get" (p. 163). I have 3 responses:
1) News is information.
2) Information changes people's lives - for instance, when my wife told me the news that she was pregnant it changed everything.
3) How can an author write a book full of information promoting a change when he doesn't believe that information changes people's lives?
Pagitt says (and I agree), the "whole point of preaching is to help people grow in their understanding of God and how we are to live as God's people and to empower the church to live out God's mission" (p. 162). Describing his own practice of preaching, he says, "I talk for awhile, then I invite others to comment, ask questions, offer clarifications, and so on. If I've done my job, people are thinking and talking about faith issues in a new way, and that thinking will lead them to new considerations" (p. 199). This is similar to the way that every preaching pastor I know would describe his own role, so I fail to see how his ideas can be described as a "re-imagining" of preaching.
His stated goal is "not to convince people that speaching [pre-planned, one-way monologue:] is a failure as much as...trying to provide a new way of thinking for those who've already concluded such but don't have the words to go with their intuition" (p. 114). But all he really does is encourage listeners to practice active-listening skills and preachers to be involved in the day-to-day lives of their listeners. This is hardly revolutionary stuff and it certainly doesn't require my imagination to be involved.
September 29, 2008
I think Doug Pagitt has a keen and challenging idea here: preaching as an actual conversation that takes place within the congregation. The pastor does a lot of preparation, but things don't stop at "Amen." Instead, everyone is invited to participate, ask questions, share insights and stories. Not sure if my reservations are for good reasons (we give primacy to the pastor during the sermon because his or her vocation centers around biblical study, theological reflection, interpreting the vocabulary of faith, making discipleship concrete) or bad (I'd be so scared to just open the floor). Still, he seems to have his pulse on 21st century ways of being church, and there's great understanding and passion to everything he says. Definitely a book to wrestle, and maybe experiment, with.
May 24, 2007
Pagitt says that traditional preaching, which he calls "speaching," contradicts the central message of the Reformation by elevating the voice of the clergy above that of the laity. He suggests, instead, a model he calls "progressional dialogue" -- which basically means that preachers should work collaboratively with their congregations to form sermons that represent multiple voices. An intriguing idea, but it doesn't sway me from my love of well-crafted traditional sermons.
April 16, 2012
Did not like this book.
If you want to radically change preaching you need to come with more than your own opinion.
Biblical support is absent.
Author offers bold claims about preaching from a historical perspective but does not attempt to support this claim
Rationale for drastically changing preaching seems to boil down to some preachers are boring and ineffective.
Has the typical emergent murkiness with the truth, and scripture. The author is okay with this, me not so much.
If you want to radically change preaching you need to come with more than your own opinion.
Biblical support is absent.
Author offers bold claims about preaching from a historical perspective but does not attempt to support this claim
Rationale for drastically changing preaching seems to boil down to some preachers are boring and ineffective.
Has the typical emergent murkiness with the truth, and scripture. The author is okay with this, me not so much.
January 6, 2010
Preaching as a dialogue that integrates everyone's story into the greater story of God??? Who could have come up with such an idea???
Oh right, the Bible... touche.
One of the two books that formed the way I teach about following the way of Jesus.
Oh right, the Bible... touche.
One of the two books that formed the way I teach about following the way of Jesus.
Read
May 24, 2007thought-provoking, if nothing else.
September 15, 2007
He doesn't say anything new, and I don't really like the way he's repeating things either...
October 15, 2007
challenged me in the way I plan/teach within the church
January 9, 2010
i've tried to get into this book at multiple times over the past year or so... and it's just not that interesting. maybe it's time to call it a loss and take this book off of my shelf?
March 16, 2016
This is book that has continued to influence my thoughts around church. Surprisingly deep.
August 20, 2008
His main focus is good, but he comes across a little too preachy or "speachy" as he might say.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews