For the past couple of weeks, I have been reading, “The Witness of Preaching,” by Thomas Long for a homiletics class at Heritage Christian University. I’ve two questions that may interest the preachers on this blog. In Long’s book, he characterizes preachers in three ways: herald, pastor and storyteller/poet. Which kind of preacher are you? Do you believe a preacher could be all three in some way?
-
John Henson
Reply
Eugene Adkins 5:55 pm on August 24, 2012 Permalink |
Me = Herald. Often times I feel like I play the pastor role, but herald is the most comfortable for myself. I know some preachers (one specifically) who fits all three very well, but I think it’s rare across the board because of personality traits.
Good questions, John.
J. Randal Matheny 8:18 am on August 25, 2012 Permalink |
Maybe a mix of herald and storyteller/poet? I think there’s a place for all three types as a good mix: the herald, to announce the will of the Lord; the pastor, to show concern for God’s flock; the storyteller/poet, to match the telling with the wonder and the marvel of the story.
John Henson 10:33 am on August 25, 2012 Permalink |
I agree with you both. In my first homiletics classes, preaching was defined as heralding a message for the king.That’s what I learned to do, but as you both said, there are elements of all three that I’ve noticed in my preaching. Personally, speaking only for myself, I would not wish to be pigeon-holed into just one characteristic. When I first read this in Long’s book, I thought of Stafford North’s defined, exemplified, applied type of sermon and how all three fit into that kind of sermon. Things can be defined scripturally, exemplified by stories from the Bible and applied with personal knowledge of people in the congregation (a pastoral flavor, if you will). Thanks for your viewpoints. While it may be difficult for an old man like me to keep and open mind, I’m going to try to do just that.
J. Randal Matheny 3:57 am on August 27, 2012 Permalink
I like what you said here and how you interfaced it with North’s types. Very nicely done.
John Henson 3:28 pm on August 27, 2012 Permalink |
Thanks. I’ve had a real love-hate relationship with Long’s book, and I’m far from agreeing with him on much of what he says, but he makes some sense, too. It’s easy to throw the baby out with the bath water, but there is an opportunity to learn.