Preaching and Aging

Summary

An insightful account of the role of preaching in congregations with various ages, including the elderly, present. It deals with three topics: “Preparation For Preaching,” “How One Preaches,” and “What One Preaches.”     

Preaching on Purgatory

Because today there is so little preaching on this topic, it was suggested that it might be useful if this sermon was put into print, in spite of its mildly esoteric character. It was given at a Solemn Requiem Mass at Balliol College, Oxford, on 20 January. The Mass was being attended by a wide range of members and friends of the College, only a minority of them Catholics, for it was being celebrated to mark the 700th anniversary of the death of the College's co-founder, the Lady Dervorguilla, mother of John of Balliol, King of Scotland.     

Preaching and political debate on refugees

The article investigates how preaching relates to political debate on refugees through a study of sermons in Church of Norway in 2015/2016. The sermons are analysed in the context of the “refugee crisis” as it was mediated by national media and treated in public debate. The debate revolved around refugee politics, but included an exchange over the church’s role in the debate. The article investigates sermons as contributions to political debate on refugees and as negotiating the church’s role in political debate. A distinct finding is that most sermons collapse the historical distance to the biblical texts and employ them directly as instructions for moral and political action. The article identifies three homiletic strategies connected with three different ways of relating to public debate: A sentimental, a moralistic, and a heroic style of preaching.     

Preaching with counseling insight

Conclusion Preaching with counseling insight can mean the maximum inspiration for growth to the listeners, and it is bound to mean maximum growth for the preacher. When one preaches with counseling insight he can not borrow many ideas, for there are few sermons available of this type. This throws him on his own resources to study and observe and leads him to throw himself on the Grace of God. For the more he prays the more effective his study and the more real and vital and dynamic will be his preaching.