Clader's approach to inspired and prophetic preaching is a holistic one, filled with suggestions about how the preacher's spiritual life and practice affect openness to the Spirit, as well as how various creative exercises can create spaces in which the Spirit can flourish. Her careful analysis of the biblical texts that illuminate how the Spirit works in those texts is supplemented by practical suggestions for noticing how the Spirit also works in the everyday life of preacher and congregation.
This book will be a welcome companion for the seminarian who is just learning to preach, as well as the seasoned preacher who is looking for new inspiration.
Linda Clader is Professor of Homiletics and Dean of Academic Affairs at the Church Divinity School of the Pacific in Berkeley, California.
"With seasoned grace, Linda Clader leads us into landscapes of the heart. There we find--beyond our wildest dreams, but according to our deepest longings--that God's Spirit does bear witness with our preaching words." -- The Rev. Dr. David Schlafer, co-editor of Sermons that Work
"Colorful, juicy, engaging, and, oh yes, profound -- Linda Clader is all the things a preacher should be. Her elegant prose, insight and experience give her a uniquely powerful voice. And equip her to be just the kind of help a preacher most needs! -- Jana Childers, Dean and Professor of Homiletics, San Francisco Theological Seminary
"This is an extraordinary book. Seldom have words on a page lifted me out of my chair like these. Linda Clader spills her own wisdom, elegance and grace onto every page and it works! This book will make you want to preach better and leave you with several good ideas about how to do it. -- Jana Childers, Dean and Professor of Homiletics, San Francisco Theological Seminary
"Here is a book for preachers who want to speak freshly and directly of the Holy but who do not always know how. Clader models what she teaches, inviting her readers into a conversation rich with ideas, images, insights and inspiration that are as true to earth as they are to heaven. She may remind us that preaching is 'a profoundly dangerous occupation,' but not without believing (and asking us to believe) that we have everything we need to do it well." -- Barbara Brown Taylor, author of The Preaching Life
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