MWP 315: INTRODUCTION TO PREACHING
Fall 2013
Course Syllabus
Instructor: Rev. Dr. Barbara Cathey
Email: bcathey@mccormick.edu
No campus office or office hours; individual appointments available
Prerequisites: For student success, Introduction to Biblical Studies is highly recommended.
Course Description: This course is an introduction to the steps involved in and a variety of
considerations related to the homiletical process. Students will engage in these steps as they
prepare to preach and receive feedback on two sermons.
Course Goal: The goal of this course is for students to explore their identity as preachers, as they
faithfully engage scripture, the homiletical process, themselves, others and God.
Required Texts:
Long, Thomas, The Witness of Preaching, 2nd edition, Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press,
2005.
Smith, Christine M., Preaching Justice: Ethnic and Cultural Perspectives, Cleveland, OH: United
Church Press, 1998.
New Revised Standard Version Bible (preferably HarperCollins, New Oxford Annotated or The New
Interpreter’s); other versions will be welcome at various points in the course
Recommended Texts:
Craddock, Fred B., Preaching, Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 1985.
Nieman, James R. and Rogers, Thomas G., Preaching to Every Pew: Cross-Cultural Strategies,
Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 2001.
Thomas, Frank A., They Like to Never Quit Praisin’ God: The Role of Celebration in Preaching,
Cleveland, OH: The Pilgrim Press, 1997.
Additional books may be recommended to students if they have a particular area of homiletics they
wish to pursue.
Course Requirements:
1. Preparation for Class: Students are expected to have completed assigned readings and
written assignments. When clarification is needed for an uncoming assignment, students
are expected to be sure they understand what is expected when the assignment is
announced. If an assignment provoked questions, students should bring those to class.
2.
Active Participation with the course work: This includes being on time and prepared to
engage with the material and with learning colleagues. Excused absences must be
requested in advance unless in the case of emergency. Any unexcused absences will
automatically result in a lower grade. An unexcused absence on the day a student is
scheduled to preach or receive feedback will result in a failing grade for that sermon.
3. Completion of assignments: All assignments must be completed when due unless in the
case of emergency, and must be submitted in the form requested. Late assignments will
automatically receive a lower grade.
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4. Written assignments must be double spaced, one inch margins, using Times New Roman or
Arial 11 point font. Complete sentences are required unless stated otherwise.
5. Assignments must follow McCormick guidelines regarding inclusive language and
plagiarism.
6. Computer requirements: Each student needs access to a computer and a printer, as well as
high-speed internet connection. Computer related problems do not excuse a student from
completing an assignment.
7. In-class preaching: Each student will preach two sermons in class during the semester –
one from each Testament on an assigned text. Sermons must be 12-15 minutes long.
Students will receive a two minute warning prior to reach the time limit and will be stopped
at 15 minutes to allow adequate time for feedback from class colleagues (your
congregation). If a student normally will preach in a language other than English, he/she is
welcome to preach in that language as long as typescripts in English are given to the
instructor and course colleagues.
8. Advance submission of sermons: Sermon typescripts must be submitted to the instruction
by 5:00 p.m. two days in advance of the preaching date, to aid the instructor in giving
quality feedback. Specific instructions will be given in class. The sermon event may vary
slightly from the typescript. Students may preach with or without a manuscript, whichever
is their preference. Late sermons will be docked 15 points – no exceptions!
9. Instructor feedback: After each sermon, every student will be scheduled for an individual
feedback session with the instructor. Sermons will not be graded until after this feedback
session.
10. Engaging diversity: Class colleagues will bring a diversity of traditions, cultures, theologies,
life styles and life experiences. All of that impacts who we are as people and as preachers.
Within this classroom all learning colleagues must make a commitment to honor that
diversity, and to reject disparaging language or attitudes as together we seek to reflect the
kin-dom of God. Every person is required to use inclusive language for humanity and
expansive language for God.
Assessment:
The evaluation of the student’s performance will be based on the following:
Class participation and completion of assignments – 30%
Exegesis Paper—20%
Sermon 1 – 25%
Sermon 2 – 25%
The evaluation of the instructor’s performance will be assessed through midterm and final
student evaluations.
Grading Rubrics for Sermons:
A (90-100) Excellent work, demonstrating high quality work in all 6 homiletical aspects:
1. Careful exegesis
2. Intentional and consistent theological reflection
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3. A clear trajectory/movement that engaged listeners and developed the sermon’s
focus and function.
4. A sensitive, imaginative and purposeful relation to the contexts of classroom,
church and culture
5. Well prepared and practiced; an oral/aural event
6. Delivered with authenticity and energy appropriate to the preacher’s identity
and anticipated context
B (80-89) Good work; strength in at least 4 of the above aspects
C (70-79) Adequate work; significant progress needed in most aspects
D (60-69) Unsatisfactory; did not fulfill most of the above aspects
F
Not acceptable
Some Notes Regarding Sermons Preached in Class
1. On the day of preaching, students are asked to wear clothing suitable for leadership in public
worship in the congregation which the student attends or serves.
2. From the time the preacher leaves his or her seat until the time the preacher returns to it, the
preacher is to act as if she or he is in front of the congregation in worship.
3. The preacher is urged to consider the class as the community for whom the sermon is being
prepared. In this way the preacher can demonstrate how preaching is related to the life of a
community by relating it to the life of the class.
Guidelines for Giving Feedback to Preaching Colleagues
Feedback is a gift we offer each other, as a means of providing each other the opportunity to know how
we are being heard and experienced, to offer another perspective, to wonder together how to be more
effective in the preaching task and responsive to God’s Spirit. The purpose of feedback is to help each
other develop the skills we are here to learn. Giving and receiving helpful feedback is a learned (not
natural or automatic) style of communication. Here are some guidelines:
1. Use “I” statements: “I heard you saying…”, “I wonder if…”, “I felt that…”
2. Focus on a behavior, not on the person: “I felt that you talked too loudly at the beginning of the
sermon” rather than “I feel like you are a person who loves to shout your sermons.”
3. Focus on positive aspects of a sermon, not just negative ones.
4. Be specific. “I felt like if you had ended your sermon after ____, you would have nailed it for me
but I felt distracted by what came after that;” rather than “You came in for a landing about three
times. Why didn’t you just end it here?”
5. Describe, don’t judge. “I noticed you made this gesture a few times and I wondered what you
meant by it;” rather than “You kept itching your head and it made me sick.”
6. Share ideas and information rather than giving advice.
7. When receiving feedback, focus on what has been said rather than on why it is said. Don’t
second guess a person’s motives. (and if you’re giving feedback the point is to offer something
constructive not to put the person down).
8. If you’re not clear about what someone meant by the feedback they offered, rephrase it back to
them: “Were you saying that you thought I…?” Give them a chance to clarify.
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Course Schedule:
Before the first class:
Read Chapter 7 “Preaching” in Barbara Brown Taylor’s The Preaching Life (on course website and
judeon reserve in JKM library). Note three insights she offers that struck you (positively or
negatively) and reflect on their significance for you as a preacher. Limit yourself to 1-2 typewritten,
double spaced pages. Bring your paper to class with you and be prepared to discuss the chapter.
September 5 – Introduction, Syllabus, Exploring our identity as preachers
Assignment for 9/12:
Create a preaching journal – this is not for the homiletical process but for you to reflect on
your thoughts, experiences and your unfolding identity as a preacher. This will not be
graded; it is for your own benefit; however, I will want you to turn it in on October 3 and
December 5 to verify that you are participating fully in the work of this class.
Taylor says, “Everything we have ever done and everything we have become follows us into
the pulpit when we preach.” (p. 84) It also impacts our encounters with scripture, with God,
and wit,h other people, including a congregation. Reflect in your journal on Taylor’s
statement in regard to your own preaching life.
Read Chapter 2 in Long and “The First Reading of the Text” in Craddock, pp. 105-107. (On
course website and on reserve in JKM.
Go online to listen to preachers who are different from you. If you are male listen to at least
one female preacher. Listen to someone from a different race or ethnicity. Post on the
course website the best of what you find. Some well-known preachers worth checking out
are Vashti McKenzie, Cynthia Hale, Tom Long, Fred Craddock, Barbara Brown Taylor,
Teresa Fry Brown, T.D. Jakes, Cynthia Jarvis, Anna Carter Florence, Grace Imathiu, Barbara
Lundblad, Lillian Daniel, Nadia Bolz-Weber, Otis Moss III, Frank Thomas… and others
recommended by class members. There will be many short clips. Try to find a full sermon.
Write a one page paper telling the preacher’s name, the sermon title, and the website or link
where the sermon was found. identifying the strengths of the sermon and what you wish
the preacher had done differently.
September 12 – Encountering Scripture
We will do a variety of exercises this semester with Exodus 3:1-15, as Moses meets God in the
burning bush and discovers that he is standing on holy ground. Be prepared to take your shoes off!
Assignment for 9/19:
Preaching Journal: reflect on how bringing your imagination and your senses to the
scripture, together with a group of people, impacted your experience of the text.
Read Chapter 3 in Long. Taking points I – IV in Long’s outline on p. 70, make it your own.
Define what each point means and how you will execute it as you prepare for Sermon 1.
This is both an assignment to turn in and a document to help you with your own exegesis.
Complete sentences not required.
We will be working through the exegetical process with Exodus 3:1-15 on 9/19. Bring
copies of a version of scripture other than NRSV and a scholarly commentary or journal
article on the text. Online articles are not acceptable unless they are from a scholarly
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journal. If you don’t have access to these in your personal library, a research librarian in
JKM can help you.
September 19 -- Exegesis for Preaching
We will be working through the exegetical process on Exodus 3:1-15 as if we were preparing to
preach a sermon on this text. Bring copies for each member of our class of a version of this
scripture (other than NRSV) and a scholarly commentary or journal article on the text. Online
articles are not acceptable unless they are from a scholarly journal. If you don’t have access to
these in your personal library, a research librarian in JKM can help you.
Everyone will select one scripture from the First (Old) Testament for your first sermon.
Assignment for 9/26
 Prayerfully sit with your text for Sermon 1. Bring your imagination, your senses, your
inquisitive mind to the text and jot down what you have encountered. Are there questions you
want to ask of the text? Jot those down.
 Work through Steps I-IV in Long’s/your exegetical outline. Download the “Exegesis for
Preaching Worksheet” from the course website and fill in #1-6, based on what you have
discovered through these steps of encountering and exegeting the text.
You will turn in just the worksheet on 9/25. SAVE ALL YOUR NOTES AND
BIBLIOGRAPHIC DATA. THEY WILL BE KEY IN WRITING YOUR EXEGESIS PAPER DUE
BEFORE SUNDAY, OCTOBER 13 AT 2 PM.
 Read Long, pp. 108-118. Write one focus and function statement for your text for Sermon 1.
September 26 – Focus and Function
Explore Long’s, Craddock’s, Thomas’s, and other models of claiming the focus of the text and the
sermon, and the function/purpose of both. Brainstorm a variety of focus and function statements
for Exodus 3:15-20. In small groups help each other craft and reflect on focus and function
statements for our texts for Sermon 1.
Assignment for 10/3:
 Develop 3 focus and function statements for your text for Sermon 1.
 Preaching Journal: Reflect on how you are feeling about the homilectical process so
far. Is it exciting? Challenging? Frustrating? A waste of time? If you have preached
regularly in the past, how is it different from ways you have
encountered/explored/studied the text in preparation to preach?
Bring your preaching journal to class with you on 10/3 to turn in. You will get
it back on 10/17.
 Do any additional exegetical work you did not finish.
October 3 – Fun & Games with Clare Nolan
Clare Nolan is an actor who teaches in preaching at Seabury/Western Seminary in Evanston and in
the ACTS D. Min. in Preaching program. Clare will engage us in a variety of activities to help each of
us nurture our authentic voice and more faithfully embody the Word.
Assignment due Sunday, October 13 by 2 pm:
In complete sentences and in a well-structured format, write a 4-7 page paper
(double spaced, 1” margins, 11 pt. font) on your exegetical research. This will not include
what you discovered by bringing your imagination, senses, etc to your encounter with this
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text. It should include your findings about authorship, the historical context, the literary
context, the genre, the identity and role in Israel’s history of this text and any characters in
it, any textual problems, theological issues raised in the text, how God is portrayed in the
text, how God’s people are portrayed. Identify the claims you find in the text that you
believe offer a message to the church and the world today.
This paper should include footnotes if you are quoting any sources and should also include a
bibliography of the resources you consulted. (Use Turbian’s A Manual for Writers if you are
not familiar with standard footnote and bibliographic notation.)
Finish your paper in plenty of time to submit it to “Turn it in” before you submit it to me.
Any paper with significant plagiarism will receive a failing grade. Papers received after 2
pm will have 10 points deducted. Papers received after 9 pm will have 20 points deducted.
I will be at a training event from 10/10-10/13 and unavailable to answer last minute
questions or requests.
Assignment for October 17 class:
Read Chapters 5 and 6 in Long. Bring an outline of the steps/movements you might develop
for your Sermon 1 to share with your small group.
October 10 – Reading Week – No Class
October 17 —The Forming/Designing of the Sermon
Crafting a sermon is an art form and we will look at various approaches to this.
Midterm evaluation of class and instructor.
Sign up for preaching times on 10/24.
Assignment for 10/24:
Prepare and practice Sermon 1. It must be 12-15 minutes in length. (See course
Requirement #7) Prepare a typescript of your sermon for the instructor. You may preach
with or without a manuscript, in English or in your natal language.
October 24 – STUDENTS PREACHING – First Testament Sermons
Give feedback to preaching colleagues.
Sign up for a meeting time with instructor on October 31
Sign up for New Testament text for Sermon 2
Assignment for October 31:
Do imaginative, prayerful work on your New Testament text as well as exegesis; Submit
Exegesis Worksheet and focus and function statement.
Assignment for November 7:
 Brainstorm y additional atopics you’d like to cover and questions you’d like to
discuss in the remainder of the semester. Email them to the instructor before
November 7.
 Read Long, chapters 7 and 8. Bring a video example of a good beginning, ending, or
image and be prepared to explain what you think we preachers can learn from it.
October 31- One-on-one Sermon Feedback sessions with instructor/ NO CLASS
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November 7—The Beginnings, the Endings and the Stuff Between and Beside
Openings, Closings, Celebration, Imagery, Poetry, Rhetoric, Art, Movie clips, song lyrics
Collaborative preaching, round table preaching; What NOT to bring to the pulpit
Assignment for November 14:
Prepare sermon which may include arts component, collaborative style, scripture by heart,
first person perspective
November 14 – STUDENTS PREACHING – New Testament Sermons
Assignment for December 5—Final Project:
Work individually or with 1-3 partners to explore ethnic and cultural issues related to
preaching. Sign up for one of the topics from Smith’s Preaching Justice or from Preaching to
Every Pew, Nieman and Rogers
Presentations should be 15-20 minutes in length and include instructive
information, examples. Consider if you can prepare focus and function statements
for these presentations. Will be graded on quality of information, effectiveness of
communication and creativity of design of presentation.
By November 21:
Email the instructor a description of your project, listing at least three resources and
describing the format of your presentation. Resources may include books, journal articles,
online resources, interviews, music and art.
November 21— One-on-one Feedback Sessions with the instructor/NO CLASS
November 28-- Thanksgiving/NO CLASS
December 5—Addressing Ethnic and Cultural Perspectives/Issues
Student presentations
December 12 – Finals Week/NO CLASS
Assignment: Complete final course evaluation online
----------------------------------------------------------------------Websites of interest:
http://www.textweek.com – includes commentary on lectionary from wide variety of sources,
scripture index, worship resources
https://www.workingpreacher.org – narrative lectionary, commentary
http://www.theafricanamericanlectionary.org
http://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/
http://divinity.library.vanderbilt.edu/bibliographies/homiletics.pdf
http://ejournals.library.vanderbilt.edu/homiletic/
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