Preaching and Social Issues - by Leah D Schade (Paperback)

About the Book

Preaching Social Issues equips preachers to craft sermons that help congregations talk about topics of public concern based on a strong biblical foundation, solid theological claims, and prudent sermonic strategies.

Book Synopsis

Preaching Social Issues equips preachers to craft sermons that help congregations talk about topics of public concern based on a strong biblical foundation, solid theological claims, and prudent sermonic strategies.

Review Quotes

Drawing from solid research, rich examples, and relevant sources across a variety of disciplines, Leah Schade offers a welcome set of tools and strategies for preaching about social justice across a wide range of congregational settingsmdash;as well as different preachers#39; own strengths and vulnerabilities. This wise and practical book should be at every preacher#39;s right hand as we craft sermons that will speak the gospel wherever we are called to serve!

Gospel-talk about social issues by pastors of congregations in a polarizing society requires consideration, study, and skill. Rev. Dr. Leah Schade presents Gentle, Invitational, and Robust options that allow preachers to bring a Christian heart and mind to the intersection of any congregation with society. Schade offers data about congregational life and shares the work of several scholars of social gospel preaching. I advise readers to put on an ecumenical hat and take time for careful study.

Many ingredients go into effective preaching on social issues: analyzing the issue, engaging in situational and congregational study, reading biblical and theological resources, deciding what ethical and homiletical approach to take, and consulting the helpful wisdom and model sermons of those who have gone before us. Leah Schade helps the reader gather all these ingredients in one accessible place. Preaching and Social Issues is a timely, wise, and immensely helpful book!

There are few voices with the moral clarity, spiritual depth, and profound insight of Leah Schade. Preaching and Social Issues is a must read for any who desires to speak to the prophetic urgency of our times.

About the Author

The Rev. Dr. Leah D. Schade is the associate professor of Preaching and Worship at Lexington Theological Seminary in Lexington, Kentucky. An ordained Lutheran minister (ELCA) for more than twenty years, she has pastored three Pennsylvania congregations in suburban, urban, and rural contexts. Her book, Preaching in the Purple Zone: Ministry in the Red-Blue Divide (Rowman & Littlefield, 2019), explores how clergy and congregations can address controversial social issues using nonpartisan, biblically-centered approaches and deliberative dialogue. She is also the author of Creation-Crisis Preaching: Ecology, Theology, and the Pulpit, as well as For the Beauty of the Earth, a Creation-centered Lenten devotional. She is co-editor and author with Margaret Bullitt-Jonas of Rooted and Rising: Voices of Courage in a Time of Climate Crisis (Rowman & Littlefield, 2019), and co-author with Jerry Sumney of Apocalypse When?: A Guide to Interpreting and Preaching Apocalyptic Texts. She is the lead author, with Elizabeth Askew and Jerry Sumney, of Introduction to Preaching: Scripture, Theology, and Sermon Preparation (Rowman & Littlefield, 2023). Rev. Dr. Schade is also the EcoPreacher blogger for Patheos.