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The Homiletic of ALL Believers: A Conversational Approach

Author:	O Wesley Allen Jr
Published By:	WJK (Louisville, Kentucky)
Pages:	161
Price:	$17.95
ISBN:	0 664 22860 7

Reviewed by Bridget Jenkinson.

O Wesley Allen is Assistant Professor of Homiletics at Lexington Theological Seminary and has written other books that deal with matters related to the preaching ministry. In this book he is not advocating a style of sermon presentation in which two or more participants engage in a conversation. Rather he proposes that in sermons preachers are seeking to make contributions to the ongoing faith-related conversations of the Christian congregation.

The book is arranged in two parts. In Part 1 the author alerts preachers to the contexts in which preaching takes place. Some contexts are familiar - theological, liturgical; other contexts may be easily neglected - the congregational and conversational. Allen explores the conversational context in some depth, highlighting the importance of preachers helping congregations to develop Christian vocabulary and to discern the presence of God in their lives and in the world. He stresses the particular contribution preachers make to the Christian proclamation, which he sees as the possession and responsibility of the gathered community as the body of Christ. The author examines the pros and cons of implementing this conversational approach in various preaching plans: use of the lectionary, use of continuous reading (i.e. working through a biblical book over a period of time), and the preacher’s individual choice of sermon text. Part 1 is easy to read with clear arguments and inspiring conclusions - a useful refresher for sermon-worn preachers.

Part 2 is a detailed account of the author’s experience of using the conversational homiletic in a particular church during the season of Advent guided by the Revised Common Lectionary. The congregational context and the author’s plans and exegetical notes are given in detail. The way each sermon is seen to connect with conversations is itemised and the desired contribution of each sermon to the cumulative aim of the series is described. This part of the book could be a gold mine of easily available interpretive gems for preachers who use the RCL. It is much more a ‘dip-in’ than a ‘read-through’