SERIAL 45
Welcome to the Spring 2017 Preach book club! Each quarter, we introduce you to a new book to encourage and challenge you in your preaching ministry. You can expect a summary, a review or two, discussion questions written especially for the book club, an interview with the author, and an online forum to share your thoughts with others.
We suggest you get together with three or four other preachers, lay on the coffee and cake, and dive into some inspiring conversation.
Transforming Preaching: the Sermon as a Channel for God’ s Word
David Heywood, SPCK( 2013) For discussion questions and an interview with Paula Gooder as well as all previous book clubs, please visit preachweb. org / bookclub
SUMMARY
Rooted in a clear understanding of the indispensable authority of God’ s word, Transforming Preaching provides a wealth of practical wisdom and advice for anyone approaching the task of preaching for the first time. It also serves as a useful refresher for all who want to increase the effectiveness of their preaching ministry. Basing his advice on the latest research into the way people listen, learn and grow in the Christian life, David Heywood looks at ways of constructing and delivering more successful sermons, while also providing a stimulating guide to the principles and benefits of interactive preaching.
REVIEWS
Drawing on his considerable expertise in the field of adult learning, David Heywood develops a view of preaching as an agent of change. He is not interested in sermons that keep congregations occupied for fifteen minutes but make no lasting difference to the reality of their discipleship or the quality of their community life. This is a thoughtful and well-argued book that shows, with a wealth of practical examples, how preaching can play a major part in the transformation of the church. David Day, Tutor, The College of Preachers, Nottingham
Transforming Preaching is a beautifully clear, wise and practical book, which will guide those who are learning to preach and refresh those who have been preaching for many years. In a time when preaching’ s educational value is sometimes dismissed, I especially welcome the author’ s reclamation of preaching as an event through which genuine learning can and should take place. I recommend it without hesitation to all who want their preaching to serve the process of human transformation. Stephen I Wright, Tutor in Biblical Studies and Practical Theology, Spurgeon’ s College, London
Accessible, practical, challenging and profound, Transforming Preaching is a“ must” for anyone who preaches, who wants to preach, and who wants to preach in fresh and creative ways … The sermon is an event and David Heywood makes that event life-giving and life-changing in this new and exciting book. The Revd Dr Helen-Ann Hartley, Dean for the New Zealand Dioceses at the College of St John the Evangelist, Auckland, Aotearoa New Zealand
For the discussion questions, author interview and more, please visit preachweb. org / book-club