This exciting introduction is the first to come from a postmodern collaboration of a scholar of preaching, a scholar of the Bible, and a scholar of systematic and constructive theology. In addition to these interdisciplinary emphases, the authors pay respectful attention to issues of justice and preaching in diverse communities of race, ethnicity, sexuality, and class. The authors help the preacher conceive preaching as a theological act, consider how to engage the Bible in preaching in exegetically responsible ways, how to formulate a central claim and purpose for the sermon in conversation with the cultural and congregational contexts, and how to imagine different ways of formulating the sermon so that it will have a chance to engage the congregation. I cannot think of a better point at which to begin preaching than through this book. I cannot think of a better way for experienced preachers to think afresh than by engaging this book.

Ronald J. Allen, Professor of Preaching, and Gospels and Letters (Emeritus), Christian Theological Seminary

This book’s co-authored combination of a homiletician, theologian, and biblical scholar makes it the trifecta of preaching scholarship and practical wisdom. Together, Schade, Sumney, and Askew teach and apply the fundamentals of preaching so artfully and accessibly, that all preachers—new and seasoned, lay and ordained—will put it to work over and over to enrich their preaching. It’s a must-read.

The Rev'd Dr. Lisa Cressman, Founding Steward, Backstory Preaching

Innovative, up-to-date, and even enchanting! Finally, here comes a preaching textbook that preachers of the 21st century—seasoned, aspiring, or emerging—all can confidently rely on and will appreciate for many decades to come.

Rev. Sunggu A. Yang, School of Theology, George Fox University

Introduction to Preaching is generous in its offering because it equips readers not only to learn how to preach well but also to know what is involved in terms of the sermon’s treatment of the Bible, and its theology. . . . Full of concrete sermon illustrations, pedagogically sound preaching exercises, and sermon samplers with step-by-step analyses, all-encompassing tips, tools, and ins-and-outs of sermon preparations.

Rev. HyeRan Kim-Cragg, Timothy Eaton Memorial Church Professor of Preaching

Introduction to Preaching critically owns its situatedness within the broader landscape of preaching traditions. Instructors and practitioners will gain a pragmatic resource that mirrors the integrative work required in everyday contexts of ministry—fostering accountability and imagination.

Lisa L. Thompson, Vanderbilt University Divinity School

[Introduction to Preaching] is ideally suited for seminary students who are very early in their coursework and, even more, for lay people who are going through commissioning or licensing processes in their denominational traditions. The book functions as a combination of textbook and workbook in a way that other introductory texts do not. Whether used in a class or in self-guided reading, emerging preachers will find a great deal that helps them preach faithful, loving, imaginative, and wise sermons.

Interpretation: A Journal of Bible and Theology