Dr. Mike Graves, William K. McElvaney Professor of Preaching, discusses his book The Fully Alive Preacher: Recovering from Homiletical Burnout (Westminster John Knox Press, 2006).

"If preaching is intended to enliven the church, why is it killing so many ministers?" That's the question with which I begin my book The Fully Alive Preacher. It does seem a logical and pertinent question. If something is supposed to be life-giving in the end, shouldn't the process be minimally life-giving as well?  And yet for many ministers, the weekly task of putting sermons together and preaching them nearly kills them, or at least has a numbing effect. 

In the book I tell a story about the biblical scholar Brevard Childs who, when asked by a student how he might get an A on his next paper, responded, "If you want to do better exegesis, become a deeper person."  I think something similar is at work in becoming a better preacher. It means re-examining how we go about the task of putting sermons together because maybe well-meaning patterns have become ruts. And it means re-examining how we go about living our lives in general because it's pretty much impossible to put sermons together if you're not truly alive. 

I invite readers to think about the preaching task in detail, imagining other ways that might work. I also invite them to treat their inner child to some fun and renewal periodically. Some readers of the book have noted that the subtitle, Recovering from Homiletical Burnout, while accurate, is perhaps misleading. They suggested that it might also prevent burnout for those new to the preaching task. Let's hope so.

"Recovering from Homiletical Burnout"
Dr. Mike Graves
William K. McElvaney
Professor of Preaching
Saint Paul School of Theology

In this interactive workshop we'll revisit the way ministers go about the preaching task to see if there might be more life-giving ways to do it. We'll also think about what it means to have a life, since what Wordsworth called "dullness of soul" can be deadly for preachers. Hope to see you there.

Date/Time:
Friday, September 13, 2013
9:30-3:30 p.m.

Location:
Oklahoma City/Saint Paul at OCU, McDaniel University Center.

Cost:
General Registration: $40, includes lunch
OIMC Registration: $5, includes lunch

Gain new ideas and earn 0.5 CEU's.