EBOOK
Crossover Preaching
Intercultural-Improvisational Homiletics in Conversation with Gardner C. Taylor
Jared E. AlcántaraSeries: Strategic Initiatives in Evangelical Theology5
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About
As society becomes more culturally diverse and globally connected, churches and seminaries are rapidly changing. And as the church changes, preaching must change too. Crossover Preaching proposes a way forward through conversation with the "dean of the nation's black preachers," Gardner C. Taylor, senior pastor emeritus of Concord Baptist Church in Brooklyn, New York. In this richly interdisciplinary study, Jared E. Alcántara argues that an analysis of Taylor's preaching reveals an improvisational-intercultural approach that recovers his contemporary significance and equips US churches and seminary classrooms for the future. Alcántara argues that preachers and homileticians need to develop intercultural and improvisational proficiencies to reach an increasingly intercultural church. Crossover Preaching equips them with concrete practices designed to help them cultivate these competencies and thus communicate effectively in a changing world.
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Reviews
"Dr. Alcántara first makes a convincing claim that worship will continue in America through this century, but our churches will look very different. Then he makes a compelling case that anyone who is going to survive as a preacher has to learn new skills in order to proclaim the gospel to an intercultural society. Best of all, he lets the amazing preacher Dr. Gardner Taylor show us how it is done.
M. Craig Barnes, president, Princeton Theological Seminary
"Christian preaching in the twenty-first century will need to be what Alcántara calls intercultural, and his Crossover Preaching bridges oral and literary cultures, racial and ethnic divides, and theory and practice. May the exemplar of Alcántara?s analysis here inspire many to improvise homiletically under the power of the Spirit for the next generation."
Amos Yong, Fuller Theological Seminary
"Dr. Alcántara first makes a convincing claim that worship will continue in America through this century, but our churches will look very different. Then he makes a compelling case that anyone who is going to survive as a preacher has to learn new skills in order to proclaim the gospel to an intercultural society. Best of all, he lets the amazing preacher Dr. Gardner Taylor show us how it is done."
M. Craig Barnes, president, Princeton Theological Seminary
"Dr. Jared E. Alcántara's Crossover Preaching dazzles in its contribution to homiletics and assessment of seldom-studied facets of Gardner C. Taylor's ministry. Weaving scholarship in race theory, intercultural studies and performance studies, Alcántara has produced a new tapestry of homiletics, with Gardner C. Taylor's contribution resting at its center. In doing so, he has created a template by which others may successfully engage in cross-cultural preaching. Written in a sophisticated yet accessible style, Crossover Preaching calls gospel proclaimers to become passionate instruments of God who share God's word with all human beings. Readers of Crossover Preaching will be intellectually stimulated by its scholarship, moved by its accurate analysis of Gardner C. Taylor's preaching, spiritually elevated by its thoughtfulness and persuaded to heed Dr. Alcántara's call to preach a gospel that transcends human boundaries."
Edward L. Taylor, editor, The Words of Gardner Taylor Series and Faith in the Fire