Website: http://www.workingpreacher.org/
Publisher: Center for Biblical Preaching at Luther Seminary (St. Paul, MN)
Cost: Free.
Offerings: WorkingPreacher.org offers commentary on each of the lectionary texts along with articles and videos centered upon the craft of preaching.
Leading contributors: The majority of contributors are Lutheran ministers, but the articles and videos also include contributions from Methodists, Baptists, Presbyterians, and others.
My Thoughts: WorkingPreacher.org is up front about what they do and do not offer. On their site you will find plenty articles about preaching and theology, preaching and the Bible, even preaching and the culture. You will also find commentary on the various lectionary texts for each week. What you won't find are illustrations, sermons, or sermon outlines. If you are out searching the web for one last illustration for this week's sermon, WorkingPreacher.org is not for you.
If you are looking for a place to refresh your thinking about the task of preaching, then WorkingPreacher.org holds some usefulness for you. The articles tend to be well written, although I find them difficult to search through. Adding the ability to search the articles by topic would greatly improve the site. The brief commentaries on each of the lectionary passages are good starting points to get the brain going. You can search these by date or if you aren't a lectionary preacher, there is a Bible passage index, that allows you to search the site's commentary by Biblical passage.
By far, the best part of the site is the Preaching Moments video podcasts. These are short, 3-4 minute interviews with preachers from various backgrounds. I've embedded several on this blog. Included among the 170+ videos are videos from Haddon Robinson, Will Willimon, Walter Brueggemann, and Eugene Peterson. I find watching them on Youtube easier than watching them on the WorkingPreacher.org site. On YouTube you can add several to your playlist and let them roll while you work at some other task. My only complaint, which is the same complaint I have about the articles, is that the videos are not searchable by topic.
I have found the Preaching Moments so helpful, that I wish someone in a more evangelical tradition would take a cue and make similar videos with evangelical preachers. I think there is so much to learn from pastors who have been at the task of preaching long enough to have developed a deep reservoir of wisdom on subject. I appreciate WorkingPreacher.org having captured some of that wisdom on video and encourage other centers for preaching to follow suit.
Read other reviews:
The Text this Week
Preaching Today
No comments:
Post a Comment