Transforming the Stone: Preaching Through Resistance to Change

Barbara Lundblad contends that to preach is to engage a specific community of Christians in a process of gradual growth and change. While every parish has its unique attributes and needs, there are some basic dynamics at work in moving a congregation through resistance and toward transformation. Lundblad focuses our attention on these dynamics as she describes a program of preaching meant to re-fashion a people. The steps include building a foundation of grace, re-imaging Jesus, naming and honoring the wounds of community members, naming and removing obstacles to change, describing alternative futures, and daring hope. The author addresses each of these themes separately in chapters that include a brief introduction, two sample sermons, and a conclusion. This book for preachers provides a model for transformation preaching.

Barbara K. Lundblad is Joe R. Engle Associate Professor of Preaching at Union Theological Seminary in New York City. Rev. Lundblad has been heard regularly on the Protestant Hour for many years and is formerly pastor of an ELCU parish on the upper west side of Manhattan. She was chosen to deliver the Beecher lectures at Yale in October 2000.