Preaching as Celebration

What an absolutely amazing first day to my last course here in Chicago! And WOW, does that feel weird to write. My last class, Preaching as Celebration: Preaching in the African American Tradition with Frank Thomas is shaping up to be an incredible class on preaching in general and very insightful into another style of preaching in particular. It is very interesting to ponder how the white church has decided, either by intention or omition to preach primarily to the cognitive intellect at the cost of engaging the intuitive emotive. Why, in this post-modern world, do we think it necessary to have either or? The celebration model is based on the Lowrey Loop and is meant to engage both the cognitive and the emotive in a balanced structure of situation, complication, resolution, celebration. In fact, it is a model that grounds the sermon in an everyday lived experience and thus, renders the sermon both more memorable and more able to affect change in the hearer as it transcends the cognitive by engaging the emotive at the level of core belief. Engagement at this level allows the preacher to connect with the hearer in a manner that limits the ability to simply agree and then dismiss the message that is given. by engaging the hearer at the level of core belief the preacher has the real potential of affecting change and growth as a Christian and as a person of faith. There is so much more to the African American tradition than we see on television or have historically associated with a call and response style of worship. Perhaps the reason that the call and response aspect is so prevalent in the African American tradition is because the preaching has historically engaged people at the emotive level and lived experience both by the preacher and the hearer and continues to do so today. What a wonderful gift this course is shaping up to be. I can't wait to engage the structure with digital media and see what happens. This is going to be so much fun!