A Comparison of the Frequency and Effectiveness of Contemporary Preaching in the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod and Protestantism on Selected Social Issues as Represented in the Concordia Pulpit and the Pulpit Digest

Abstract

It is not the purpose of this paper to establish the ideal frequency for directly dealing with social issues from the pulpit. The purpose is rather to compare objectively the instances of preaching on social themes found in the Concordia Pulpit and the Pulpit Digest and to allow the reader to determine the ideal frequency for himself. It may be helpful, nevertheless, to present another\u27s opinion on the matter. One man may say it is never necessary to preach on social themes because, if the Gospel is preached, the Kingdom of God is established and the problems of society are thereby mended. Preachers through the years, however, have found it helpful, if not necessary9 to preach the Gospel to specific goals of sanctification, ie., to mundane problems which distress Christians. Once it has been granted that preaching on social issues is necessary, one must determine what percentage of the sermons which a congregation hears should be devoted to such a direct presentation and solution of social problems. In speaking of controversial issues, a scope somewhat narrower than social issues, Harold A. Bosley recommends the number which he preached during the two years of 1950 to 1952. Of approximately one hundred sermons, he lists thirteen which deal with controversial issues by the direct method or 13 per cent