Reviewed Book: Marquardt, Edward F. Quest for Better Preaching. Minneapolis: Augsburg Publishing House, 1985

Pryse, Michael J.

English

Scholars Commons

Quest for Better Preaching

Wilfrid Laurier University

ConsensusVolume 13Issue 1 Perspectives on Evangelism/Fundamentalism/Neo-ConservatismArticle 155-1-1987Quest for Better PreachingMichael J. PryseFollow this and additional works at: http://scholars.wlu.ca/consensusThis Book Reviews is brought to you for free and open access by Scholars Commons @ Laurier. It has been accepted for inclusion in Consensus by anauthorized editor of Scholars Commons @ Laurier. For more information, please contact scholarscommons@wlu.ca.Recommended CitationPryse, Michael J. (1987) "Quest for Better Preaching," Consensus: Vol. 13 : Iss. 1 , Article 15.Available at: http://scholars.wlu.ca/consensus/vol13/iss1/15120 Consensussignposts for an alternative future more akin to the ancient values of theChristian faith. He praises the ecumenical movement in Canada by herald-ing its two-decade pattern of interchurch coalitions designed to rectify theinequities of Canadian life. He applauds the rise to life and action of thelaity—especially in the form of women and native peoples, and he linksspirituality and social justice when he speaks of alternatives for our con-sumerist society. His seven-fold pastoral strategy to face these issues is amasterpiece and can be used as a blueprint for change by Christians of alldenominations.In our own new Evangelical Lutheran Church In Canada, God has givenus a kairotic moment, an opportunity to let the Reformation gospel speakto and from the uniqueness of our own Canadian context. Ironically, it isthe Catholic Remi De Roo who has pointed the way for us with such clarity.His book is both a gift and a challenge for us.Oscar ArnalWaterloo Lutheran SeminaryQuest for Better PreachingEdward F. MarquardtMinneapolis: Augsburg Publishing House, 1985$15.85 paperback‘‘Can we have better preaching in the church?” For Edward F. Mar-quardt. the answer is a firm and resounding, “Yes!” Although “good preach-ing"' might be beyond many of us, all of us, Marquardt claims, can become“better" preachers. It is to this quest that he calls us; the quest to becomebetter and more effective proclaimers of Christ’s Gospel.This is a book written for the parish pastor, by one who is himself aparish pastor. The value of his contribution lies essentially in his skill as adiscriminating gatherer of challenging material from the field of contempo-rary homiletical scholarship. For our common edification, the author went“diamond mining... ” attempting “to gather as many homiletical diamondsas possible into one collection".This text, how^ever, is much more than just another patch-work collec-tion of pithy thoughts. Marquardt is also an able organizer and manages toweave the various threads of his sources into a tapestry of solid construc-tion and very attractive lines. Whether consumed in a single sitting or inisolated snippets, Marquardt's text makes for a very good read. This is nodust gatherer, but an inspirational sourcebook that readers will comfort-ably refer to time and time again.It is in the chapter dealing with “The Preacher as Theologian” thatMarquardt most clearly expresses the primary intent of his book, inspiringBook Reviews 121us to take our preaching seriously. He begins by effectively highlightingthe role which preaching has played from Biblical times through the Ref-ormation, then inviting the preacher to see him/herself, too, as a primaryinstrument in God’s ongoing relationship to humanity. This is a theologyof preaching which does not long suffer the “Saturday night special”! Theauthor is deeply concerned about a collective sense of complacency whichhas crept into our North American pulpits. The nature of the quest whichhis title points toward is a corrective to this perceived homiletical decay.Hence it is not surprising that Marquardt’s operational motif for theoffice of preaching is found within the prophetic mode of proclamation.More than anything else, the church of today needs preachers who arealso prophets. He claims that modern society, including the church, ischaracterized by a sense of loss; loss of personal significance, loss of meaning,and the like. The preacher as prophet speaks from and to that loss. Weare “ordained by God to speak God’s message to the particular setting inwhich we live. We cannot do otherwise.”Marquardt also has a lot to share concerning the “form” of such preach-ing. His presentations concerning the use of stories, the importance of lan-guage and variety in form are richly provocative. Hence we might forgivehis creation of a new acronym, the “SAI”, for “stories, analogies and im-ages”. In these latter chapters the author draws effectively from some ofthe best, Craddock, Buechner, Achtemeier and Steimle. His tone, again,is largely inspirational, and it is a highly effective tone. This entire textworks upon the reader in much the same fashion as a good sermon, shiftingperceptions to the point where one says first that “I should”, and secondlythat “I can!”The first chapters of the book are weakest in comparison to the whole.Given the text's intended audience, a chapter outlining the standard “Criti-cisms of Preaching” seems somewhat redundant. We pastor-types are neverso sharp or thorough as when we set ourselves to the task of criticizing oneanother’s work in the pulpit! The chapter entitled “The Preacher as Per-son” similarly leaves us with a “so what?” kind of feeling. When Marquardtspins out the sacred litany of “What the Preacher Needs”, does he reallyexpect anyone to question the need for “authentic humanity”, “selfless,caring love”, and the like? Marquardt might have used this section as atext-book example of the shrill-sounding “do-this sermons” that he and hissources would laudably have banished from our pulpits.As an appendix, the author includes a very helpful outline which canbe used by pastors interested in setting up a parish group dedicated tohelping the pastor improve the quality of his or her preaching. Thoughquite ambitious in scope, the process is very practical in its orientation.122 ConsensusStill, no matter how it is used, this text is an ideal resource for parishpcLstors. It inspires and challenges while also offering a solid survey ofcontemporary literature in the field of preaching. Edward Marquardt callsus to a quest that is well worth joining, effectively inspiring us to make thatquest our own.Michael PryseSt. Matthew Ev. Lutheran Church, Mildmay, and St. Paul Ev. LutheranChurch, Neustadt, OntarioA Trumpet in Darkness: Preaching to MournersRobert G. HughesPhiladelphia: Fortress Press, 1985109 pp.“A mourner,” writes Robert Hughes, “is a story in search of an ending.”The funeral sermon, when it engages the particular grief dynamics of themourners in the context of the theology of the cross, becomes a vital linkin that story, perhaps even the energizer which moves that story toward anending, namely, new life.The problem, of course, familiar to every pastor, is to know where themourners are “on the continuum of grief” (10). This requires careful listen-ing. Using the case of a protracted death from cancer, Hughes demonstrates“a strategy for communicating with mourners” (chap. 1). By listening tothe mourners' story of the death and concentrating on their feelings andquestions, the pastor can identify emotions (eg “I really miss her”), discoverimages (eg “I feel alone in the dark”), and pick up theological clues (eg “Isit wrong to feel relief?”). These become vital elements for the sermon aswell as for further pastoral work.Furthermore, each type of death has its own peculiar “syndrome of emo-tions and questions” (24), and in chapter 2 Hughes discusses the followingtypes: prolonged, sudden, untimely (eg child), timely, sought-for (suicide),unbeliever's, and anonymous (the deceased is unknown to the pastor). Eachtype is examined for its grief dynamics (eg guilt, anger, shame in the caseof suicide), and its “variable factors” (eg state of the body as the resultof an accident; the consequences of certain concepts of God). AppropriateScripture passages are listed for each type.In chapter 3. “The Cross in the Face of Death”, Hughes correlates thetheology of the cross and the theology of the mourners as the latter hasbeen revealed in the mourners’ questions and feelings (cf. chap. 1). Forexample, the question “Why?” involves anger and signals a probing of thegoodness and justice of God; “What did I do to deserve this?” involvesguilt and signals a salvation-by-works mentality: “God, where are you?”

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