More Power in the Pulpit: How America’s Most Effective Black Preachers Prepare Their Sermons

Edited by Cleophus J. LaRue
Westminster John Knox, 2009
9780664232788
$24.99…30% off until February 15…$17.49

Cleophus LaRue has reached atop the African American church tradition to solicit insight, instruction and inspiration from America’s foremost black preachers. As a highly regarded homiletics scholar, currently serving as the Francis Landey Patton Associate Professor of Homiletics at Princeton Theological Seminary, LaRue has garnered respect within the academy and the church through his prolific investigation of the questions preachers face, while also allowing space for them to demonstrate how they address various issues.

This volume is no doubt an idea that was birthed even before the first volume was released in 2002. However, the ten contributors in this volume challenge the reader, preacher, and lover of the Word, to explore issues of hope, change, racism, politics, ego, solitude, time management, self-reflection, and many other topics, while also scripting life- and community-transforming sermons.

LaRue is clearly aware that the audience for publications such as his are read by an audience that would differ greatly from an audience who would be drawn to a textbook on homiletics. However, what he has assembled is exactly what any student of homiletics—as a pastime effort or weekly assignment—needs to address the issues of our current day. The unique genius of this volume and its contributors is that each of them address their own process, while also revealing something of themselves and those who mentored them as well. In addition, each one has an uncanny method of not only introducing his or her intended audience, but also seeming to issue an invitation to the reader to join the congregation as well.

Each contributor shares how he or she prepares a particular sermon and/or his or her general process. All of the tips, tools, and techniques shared are gems that can be applied in a variety of contexts, but the wisdom to discover and cherish is found in the stories shared of how each preacher has arrived at or discovered his or her voice and style. William Epps, for example, recounts an occasion when he dined with revered preacher extraordinaire Dr. Gardner C. Taylor after preaching with Taylor in attendance. Epps writes, “We sat down and proceeded to peruse the menu. After commenting on my ability to keep up with him in New York traffic, Dr. Taylor said without looking up from the menu, ‘Epps, that was a lot of sermon.’ I got the point immediately.” Epps and others point to specific, past and present, giants of preaching who have posited good seed in fertile ground that is now blossoming in pulpits across America. Otis Moss III writes, “Rap Artists like Talib Kweli have been raising a primary question for preachers and of preaching by asking, ‘For who and to whom are we speaking?’” Moss points to the discovery of the need to have questions be addressed that are raised by those on the outside and those who may not be easily considered when preparing to preach. He follows with a sermon, “When Thugs Get Saved,” that further acknowledges the realities of the world driven by youth, speed, technology, street credibility, and basic desire for love and acceptance.

The balance of various preparation and presentation styles along the spectrum is seen between Epps and Moss, as well as between Walter Thomas’ essay on narrative preaching that stems from his love and interest in the early days of television and C.E. McLain’s essay “Preaching: A Holy and Human Nature,” where he begins with a firm assertion that “prayer is essential…” The theological and socio-political perspectives, as well as the liturgical homeland of the contributors are often stated or obvious, but Cynthia L. Hale, Raquel A. St. Clair, Melvin V. Wade, Sr., and others share their stories in ways that are not distracting. Instead, they allow their stories to become the reader’s story that then informs the dynamic sermon to follow.
Cleophus LaRue has edited an inspirational volume of essays and sermons that will serve any and every preacher or lover of good stories. Much of what was written about LaRue’s Power In the Pulpit could also be written about this book. It is definitely a must read for anyone seeking to further understand or define his or own preaching voice, whether African American or not.