The Preaching Event

by John Claypool

John Claypool is one of this country's foremost preachers. In "The Preaching Event, the text of the Lyman Beecher Lectures on Preaching, delivered by Claypool in 1979, he talks about the what, why, how, and when of preaching. What are the basic objectives of the preacher? Why do we preach? How should we preach? When is it done? Claypool's book is an excellent companion for new or seasoned preachers.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0849901316
• ISBN13: 9780849901317
• Release Date: January 1980
• Publisher: W Publishing Group
• Length: 139 Pages
• Weight: 0.76 lbs.

Customer Reviews

John Claypool's Beecher Lectures of 1979.

When you read John's words of his pilgrimage in the late 1970's you become keenly aware of how he was shaped by circumstances. He had passed thru and survived the acute lymphatic leukemia of his eight and one half year-old daughter, Laura Lue. Within six weeks he was caught-up in reading Gerhard von Rad's words on Genesis when Abraham offered his son, Isaac. He finally writes about this in "Mending the Heart" twenty years later. He wished to discover more about that darkness and obscurity surrounding the ancient belief of offering your first-born back to the gods! In listening to John in his first "Preaching Genesis" class at Mercer-McAfee, two years ago, it was difficult for me to sustain his remembered emotions. We had both gone thru the loss of child and grandchild when we had desperately prayed they would survive with God's Miracle.When I saw no review in the list of John several powerful books, I went back to re-read and look more closely for his growth of emotional strength! As we reminisced about our seminary >experiences he reminded me not to value the experience as much as to reflect upon the experience. We valued professors, Wayne E Oates, Eric Rust, Red Top Owens, Dale Moody and Wayne Ward. In his "Preaching Event" he alludes to seminary, being a "community of grades rather than a community of grace!" I felt differently because I barely survived with only a Masters of Sacred Music! <p>Looking thru John's Lectures, I caught myself counting how many persons he used as resources: Fredrich Buechner, C S Lewis, Sam Miller, Abraham Lincoln, Henri Nouwen, Daniel Levinson, Carl Jung, Gail Sheehy, Karen Horney, John Powell, John Killenger, Carlyle Marney, Loyd Oglivie, Helmut Thielicke, plus a few contempories. My sense is that he is better read than most of his pastor friends with whom I have touched base! Re-reading this early collection of John's Journey from Baptist background into the Episcopal Priesthood...back to 'Being' Professor of Preaching in McAfee School of Theology, I can raise the rating to 5+ Stars!<br>Retired, Chaplain Fred W Hood