Preaching Prophetic Care

Preachers often think of prophetic preaching in the caricature of the prophet as the lonely outsider confronting the congregation, often angrily, with the congregation's complicity in social injustice and with a bracing call for repentance. The twenty-seven essays and sermons in this book offer a different perspective by viewing prophetic preaching specifically--and ministry, practical theology, and theological education more broadly--as pastoral care for the community in prophetic perspective. Such preaching does indeed bring a critical theological analysis of justice concerns to the center of the sermon, but in such a way as to invite the congregation to consider how the move toward justice is a pastoral move-- that is, a move that seeks to build up community. Rather than contributing to the polarization so rampant in today's social world, the preacher seeks to help the congregation build bridges along which concern for justice can travel. The contributions honor the work of the late Dale Andrews, a scholar of preaching and practical theology at the Divinity School, Vanderbilt University, whose seminal work inspires the notions of prophetic care and building bridges to justice. This collection of essays is a deep and richly nuanced testimony to homiletician Dale Andrews, his scholarly work and personal witness. I especially appreciate the conversations regarding the bridges between the pastoral and the prophetic in preaching, between personal piety and social justice in the life of congregations, and the ways in which these bridges can be manifest both in the practice of preaching as well as its pedagogy. Undergirding the entire volume is Andrews's own deep commitment to racial and social justice in all its forms. This is a great resource for thoughtful pastors, scholars, and teachers of preaching. --Leonora Tubbs Tisdale, Clement-Muehl Professor of Homiletics, Yale Divinity School Phillis-Isabella Sheppard is Associate Professor of Religion, Psychology and Culture at the Divinity School, and Graduate Department of Religion, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee. Dawn Ottoni-Wilhelm is Brightbill Professor of Preaching and Worship at Bethany Theological Seminary, Richmond, Indiana. Ronald J. Allen is Professor of Preaching and Gospel and Letters at Christian Theological Seminary, Indianapolis, Indiana.