Preaching by Ear: Speaking God's Truth from the Inside out

by Dave McClellan

Overview

According to Kenton Anderson, professor of homiletics at ACTS Seminaries of Trinity Western University, this volume represents “a powerful tool” because it offers a new (actually old) model of preaching. For centuries preaching has been shaped from a literary standpoint (i.e., reading, writing, outlining, and displaying sermons). But a pre-modern method of oral preparation and delivery largely has been forgotten. Preaching by Ear hearkens back to an earlier era when sermons were rooted inside the preacher and moved out in a natural and powerful way. 

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781941337349
Publisher:	Weaver Book Company
Publication date:	10/01/2014
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	200
File size:	3 MB

About the Author

Dave McClellan is senior pastor of The Chapel at Tinkers Creek in Streetsboro, Ohio, and an adjunct professor at Indiana Wesleyan University’s Cleveland campus and at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School’s Akron Campus. He received a B.S. in Communication from Grace College and a Master of Divinity from Denver Seminary before completing a Ph.D. in Rhetoric and Communication from Duquesne University. Dave has served as an editor for Homiletics and contributed to the Journal of the Evangelical Homiletic Society, Leadership Journal, and Preaching Today. He lives in Aurora, Ohio, with his wife and 2 children.

Table of Contents

Prologue

Part 1: Preparing the Preacher

1. Something Old, Something New

2. The Wise Preacher: Augustine’s Homiletic

3. Baloney: Why We Trust Some Speakers and Dismiss Others

4. Quintilian: A Surprising Preaching Tutor

Part 2: Developing an Orally Based Model of Preaching

5. Why God Is Partial to the Spoken Word

6. Tongue before Text: Introduction to Orality

7. Finding the Sermon That’s “Already There”

8. Swallowing the Word: Building a Sermon Inside You

9. Going Off Script: The Internalized Sermon in the Live Room

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

“If we preach sermons for listening congregations, why prepare them for readers? But since the printing press sermons have moved from memorable oral patterns to the forgettable patterns of the written word. Preaching by Ear invites pastors to prepare messages for auditoriums—the communication environment of people in church—and to engage listeners through premeditated (not pre-scripted) preaching. This volume revitalizes content-rich, Scriptural preaching by pastors for listeners like us through the principles of oral thought.”

—Calvin Troup, Associate Professor; Director, Rhetoric Ph.D. Program, Department of Communication & Rhetorical Studies, Duquesne University

“Sermons are delivered orally, so why should they be conceived and gestated in literacy? Using Augustine, Plato, Aristotle, and especially Quintilian, Preaching by Ear explores the art and science of orality. Homiletics owes much to classical rhetoric, and McClellan continues to show us why. He challenges us to live lives of curiosity and worship, study and pray ourselves deep into the text, ‘map’ (not outline) the sermon, practice aloud, and then step out in faith without the safety net (or is it a straightjacket?) of written notes. Written by a pastor and scholar, Preaching by Ear will inform and challenge you.”

—Jeffrey D. Arthurs, Professor of Preaching and Communication; Chair, Division of Practical Theology, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary

“This book comes like a tall glass of cold water on a hot day. For too long, we have been writing sermons, as if people were going to read them instead of listen to them. Dave McClellan believes that if our sermons are going to be heard, we need to speak them into being. He is right. This is an engaging book, entirely relevant to our present moment. I can't wait to hear the preaching that results.”

—Kenton C. Anderson, President of Northwest Baptist Seminary; Professor of Homiletics at ACTS Seminaries of Trinity Western University