Abstract:
In this article the writers propose an alternative to modernistic linear
and propositional ways of preaching. They argue that the context
asks for preaching that is more in line with the dominant metaphors
of the post-modern culture in which the listeners live their everyday
lives. The preacher should be seen less as the bearer of final truths
(the one who carries the light or acts as witness to the truth), and
more as someone who participates in the reflection of ideas. They
propose a narrative paradigm for preaching that moves beyond the
use of stories as illustrations, to one where the preacher, in the
narrative style, becomes the co-author of new life stories in the
preaching event. The ABDCE model for fiction writing, proposed by
Anne Lamott, is then used as a model for the structuring of the
sermon. Structured along these lines, the sermon moves from a
specific Action and its cultural and historical Background, through a
Development, where something new starts to unfold before the
listeners, to a Climax of new insight and an Ending that invites the
listeners to take part in the telling and retelling of their own stories
in the light of the Great Story of God and his people.
