Alive to the Word. Stephen I. Wright

14] See Duncan Macpherson, ‘Preaching in the Roman Catholic Ecclesial Context’, in Geoffrey Stevenson (ed.), 2010, The Future of Preaching, London: SCM, pp. 27–33. Interestingly, on the day I was writing this (27 February 2009) it was mooted publicly that the retiring head of the Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales, Cardinal Cormac Murphy O’Connor, might enter the House of Lords. He has since done so, as the first Catholic bishop to become an ‘establishment’ representative of this kind since the Reformation. Free Church leaders such as Leslie Griffiths have already been honoured in this way.

[15] ‘Christ the transformer of culture’ was the fifth model of the relationship of Church to culture outlined by Niebuhr in his classic study: H. Richard Niebuhr, 1951, Christ and Culture, New York: Harper & Row, pp. 190–229.

[16] See Edwards, History, pp. 72–87 (Chrysostom), 100–16 (Augustine).

[17] Edwards, History, p. 166.

[18] Edwards, History, pp. 312–13.

[19] T. H. L. Parker, 1947, The Oracles of God: An Introduction to the Preaching of John Calvin, London and Redhill: Lutterworth, pp. 75–6, cited in Edwards, History, p. 319.

[20] Tim Grass, private communication, 5 January 2010; he also points out that Orthodoxy also has noted exponents of such ‘renewal’ preaching within Christendom, for example St Symeon the New Theologian or St John of Kronstadt.

[21] Edwards, History, pp. 166–7.

[22] Partly through ecumenical bodies, representatives of the Free Churches and the Roman Catholic Church are now involved in State affairs to a much greater extent in the UK than was the case until quite recently (see n. 14 above). It would be unthinkable, for example, to have a large state occasion like the annual Act of Remembrance or a royal funeral without the presence of leaders from all the main denominations and, indeed, the major faiths. This means that ‘Church’ as a whole – indeed ‘religion’ as a whole – not just the Church of England, continues to have a visible role within the State which may give it considerable opportunities when it comes to preaching.

[23] On this last point I am indebted to Tim Grass, private communication, 5 January 2010, and see also John W. Wright, 2007, Telling God’s Story: Narrative Preaching for Christian Formation, Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press Academic, especially pp. 47–76.

[24]On Chrysostom’s anti-Jewish preaching see Aaron A. Milavec, 1989, ‘A Fresh Analysis of the Parable of the Wicked Husbandmen in the Light of Jewish-Catholic Dialogue’, in Clemens Thoma and Michael Wyschogrod (eds), Parable and Story in Judaism and Christianity, New York: Paulist Press, pp. 81–117, here p. 83.

[25] See Edwards, History, pp. 181, 195.

[26] ‘Oration in Honour of Constantine on the Thirtieth Anniversary of his Reign’, in Maurice Wiles and Mark Santer (eds), 1975, Documents in Early Christian Thought, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 230–4.

[27] Edwards, History, p. 139.

[28] Edwards, History, p. 143.

[29] See Duncan Maclaren, 2004, Mission Implausible: Restoring Credibility to the Church, Carlisle: Paternoster, pp. 187–200.

[30] Edwards, History, p. 332.

[31]On MacLeod’s open-air preaching see Stuart Blythe, 2009, ‘Open-Air Preaching as Radical Street Performance’, unpublished PhD thesis, University of Edinburgh, ch. 5.

[32] See Stanley P. Saunders and Charles L. Campbell, 2000, The Word on the Street: Performing the Scriptures in an Urban Context, Grand Rapids: Eerdmans; Blythe, ‘Open-Air Preaching’.

[33] See also Geoffrey Stevenson and Stephen Wright, 2008, Preaching with Humanity: A Practical Guide for Today’s Church, London: Church House Publishing, pp. 22–4.

      2

      Contemporary Functions of Preaching

      Having briefly surveyed the historical phenomenon of preaching in Chapter 1, in this chapter we will outline four contemporary contexts which condition the event of preaching and within which it fulfils a distinct function today.

First, we will consider shared worship, which has been the dominant context for preaching over two millennia. Next we turn to contemporary culture. The Church is placed in the world as a missionary body,[1] and that means that preaching, while inevitably influenced by intellectual and social currents, can also exercise influence on the cultures in which it is set, and the individuals and groupings which inhabit them. The third context is that of theology. Preaching has sometimes been the spearhead of the Church’s continuing theological conversations and debates about the meaning of God’s revelation in Christ for our lives and the world. Although the study of theology now extends more widely than the Church and is carried forward in a variety of arenas of discourse, it undoubtedly remains true that for many Christians, the theology they have learned has come mainly or solely through preaching. There is an obvious link here to the fourth context, that of pastoral care. The Church and its pastors exercise such care for a wide range of people who may or may not be identified as Christian. An aspect of this care is the Christian education involved in both evangelism and Christian nurture: education understood in the fullest sense as not just an intellectual process but a transformational one, enabling people to be renewed not only in their thinking but in their living, according to Christ’s pattern (cf. Rom. 12.1–2). And in this process preaching continues to play a pivotal, yet again contested, role.

      Shared worship

The context of worship exercises a considerable influence upon the preaching that takes place within it, and preaching, conversely, fulfils a distinct function when it is part of a service of worship. We will discuss this mutual influence first in general terms, and then with reference to the diversity of kinds of worship practised in today’s Church.[2]

      The effect of worship on preaching is profound, though often unnoticed. The worshipping context reminds speaker and hearers that preaching is meant to glorify God before it is meant to edify people – and that its purpose is certainly not to boost the ego of the preacher. Prayer, song, Bible reading, sacrament and silence all have a part to play in the Godward focus of the gathering, and together contribute to an atmosphere which becomes ‘second nature’