What strange new world are we now living in?

Laurie Clow offers this review of Carl Trueman’s new book Strange New World (Crossway Books, Wheaton, Illinois: 2022): As I move inexorably to the end of my sixth decade and celebrate (?) over 25 years ordained, I find myself increasingly becoming a grumpy old man. My background in social sciences, a graduate of Economics, Politics and … Continue Reading

Can preaching remain a monologue?

Some time ago, early on a Sunday morning, I had a phone call. The person preaching at the service in two hours’ time was unwell, and would not be able to preach. I was leading the service; what should I do about the sermon? My first thought was: what a great opportunity to do some … Continue Reading

Is it time to rethink the ‘testimony’?

At the Second Festival of Theology, Mike Starkey (who teaches at the Church Army centre in Sheffield) suggested that we need to rethink the traditional ‘testimony’: It is a truth universally acknowledged that Christians invited to talk about their faith look terrified. Most people simply don’t know where to start. And that’s before you introduce … Continue Reading

Adding dialogue to monologue preaching

There has been some fascinating discussion in response to my two previous posts on why monologue preaching doesn’t work and why dialogue preaching isn’t practical. Before looking at how we might take the best of both together, two observations about monologue. First, those (usually clergy) who have theological training do have something valuable to bring to … Continue Reading

Should preaching be in dialogue format?

My previous post, on whether preaching should be monologue, provoked a fascinating debate (somewhat ironically!) both on Facebook and on the blog post itself in the comments. The first wave of comments was mostly happy agreement—how can you possibly continue with monologue in this day and age? As I mentioned at the end of the … Continue Reading

Should preaching be a monologue?

A couple of weeks ago, early on a Sunday morning, I had a phone call. The person preaching at the service in two hours’ time was unwell, and would not be able to preach. I was leading the service; what should I do about the sermon? My first thought was: what a great opportunity to … Continue Reading