"Helpin' Me Resist and Refuse:" Class-Consciousness and Preaching
Abstract
This paper examines how consciousness of class can inform one's preaching. It does this by focusing in three areas. First, it considers how consciousness of the class dynamics in church and society can inform one's strategy in preaching. Issues range from the incorporation of social analysis into preaching to avoiding the potential pitfalls of class-based stereotypes and paternalism. Second, it considers how class-consciousness can affect the preacher's approach to biblical texts. For example, there are distinct challenges that arise when comparing economic orders of the biblical era with those of today. Third, it considers how class-consciousness can affect the development and articulation of theology. In the public sphere, it is important to assess who is speaking publicly about God and how they are speaking about God in relation to the lives of working class peoples. Ultimately, the essay concludes that class-consciousness could revolutionize the content of preaching in churches today in a manner analogous to that of the shift to gender-inclusive language.For articles: All articles published in Homiletic are the exclusive property of the Journal. All copyright rights to the article shall be owned by and be in the name of the Academy of Homiletics. The Academy of Homiletics in turn grants all authors the right to reprint their articles in any format that they choose, without the payment of royalties, subject to giving proper credit to the original publication with Homiletic. The Academy of Homiletics also permits articles to be copied for non-profit educational use provided proper credit is given to Homiletic. Authors may self-archive their articles in an institutional repository or other online location, provided proper credit is given to Homiletic.
For reviews: All reviews commissioned by Homiletic are the exclusive property of the Journal. Reviews are considered a work made-for-hire, and, as such, all copyright rights to the review shall be owned by and be in the name of the Academy of Homiletics. The Academy of Homiletics in turn grants all review authors the right to reprint their reviews in any format that they choose, without the payment of royalties, subject to giving proper credit to the original publication with Homiletic. The Academy of Homiletics also permits its reviews to be copied for non-profit educational use provided proper credit is given to the review author and the Journal. Authors may self-archive reviews in an institutional repository or other online location, provided proper credit is given to Homiletic.
