What's Right with Preaching Today?: The Enduring Influence of Fred B. Craddock

In 1928, when Riverside Church (NYC) pastor Harry Emerson Fosdick asked the question in Harpers Magazine, “What’s the Matter with Preaching Today?” he did not know that one response to that question had just entered the world in Humboldt, Tennessee. Fred B. Craddock revolutionized preaching theory and practice by flipping pulpit logic from deductive to inductive—often called the preaching-as-storytelling revolution—and in so doing brought renewed interest and impact to the practice of preaching, effectively rescuing it from an often tedious and moralizing fate. With Fred, preaching was anything but boring. Rather, it was an exciting and enlightening ride that led to the renewal of faith.

To honor Craddock’s legacy, Mike Graves and André Resner invited ten leading voices in homiletics to identify something that is right about preaching today. In addition, they issued a call to a wide variety of people to contribute stories about Fred’s impact on their lives and ministries. Twenty-seven remembrances of Fred are included here throughout the book.

If you appreciate effective and engaging preaching—as either a preacher or listener—the essays and remembrances here will speak to you and provide encouragement about preaching’s present and future.
With contributions from: Ronald J. Allen Barbara K. Lundblad Alyce McKenzie Debra J. Mumford Luke Powery André Resner Richard Ward Dawn Ottoni-Wilhelm Paul Scott Wilson

Mike Graves is the Wm. K. McElvaney Professor of Preaching and Worship at Saint Paul School of Theology and Scholar-in-Residence at Country Club Christian Church, both in the greater Kansas City area. He is the author of The Sermon as Symphony (1997), The Fully Alive Preacher (2006), and The Story of Narrative Preaching (2015). www.drmikegraves.com

Andre Resner is Professor of Homiletics and Church Worship, and Director of the Chapel at Hood Theological Seminary. He is the author of Preacher and Cross: Person and Message in Theology and Rhetoric, and editor and contributor to Just Preaching: Prophetic Voices for Economic Justice, and, with Mike Graves, What's Right With Preaching Today?