By the Word Worked: Encountering the Power of Biblical Preaching

In By the Word Worked, Fleming Rutledge exhibits a lifetime of wisdom gained from reflection upon the power of the Word of God to address, convict, comfort, and exhort the church. Rutledge contends that the Word of God is the very lifeblood of the church, with preaching, based upon Holy Scripture, calling the church into existence, determining its identity, providing its calling and commission, and enabling its faith in the ultimate triumph of its Lord. Despite Satan's interference, the revelation of God in his Word continues to show itself triumphant, relevant, transformative, and powerful in the modern era. Rutledge asserts that the continued proclamation of the Word of God is for the church life itself, never to be neglected even in the face of intense and targeted adversity.

In this initial volume of the Parchman Lectures series, Rutledge provides an incisive presentation of the power of the Word of God in its verbal form of Christian proclamation. Her call is for the reader to rediscover preaching that is not centered on human potential and the authenticity of the self, but on a divine Word of God that comes to us from outside ourselves, the Word of the Gospel, a Gospel that is both powerful in its effect and urgent in its appeal. These lectures challenge prevailing practices and paradigms in preaching but also present a faithful vision of Christian proclamation that is effective "by means of the Word worked."

Fleming Rutledge is an Episcopal priest widely recognized in North America and the UK as a preacher, lecturer, and teacher of other preachers. Her sermons have been widely praised. Ordained to the diaconate in 1975, Rutledge was one of the first women to be ordained to the priesthood of the Episcopal Church (January 1977). She matriculated at General Theological Seminary and received her Master of Divinity degree from Union Theological Seminary in New York in 1975. For fourteen years Rutledge was assistant and then Senior Associate at Grace Church in New York City. She also served as interim rector of St. John's, Salisbury, Connecticut, and has twice been a resident Fellow at the Center of Theological Inquiry at Princeton. She has been a resident at Wycliffe College in the University of Toronto School of Theology, where she taught preaching, and also a Visiting Scholar at the American Academy in Rome. In 2017 her book  The Crucifixion was named  Christianity Today’s Book of the Year.

Kimlyn J. Bender is Professor of Christian Theology and Holder of the Foy Valentine Chair in Christian Theology and Ethics at Truett Seminary, Baylor University.