Getting to God
Preaching Good News in a Troubled World
Published November 2020
Preachers can proclaim God’s grace in a divisive culture.
God shows up, surprises us, and catches us off guard in offbeat settings and contexts. We name these saving encounters “gospel.” Naming God’s action in our world can be challenging for many today. Divisions in our culture make preaching feel perilous. Preachers turn to the biblical text and long to speak a powerful word of good news but many struggle with how to name God’s grace amidst complex contextual issues and relational dynamics. Seminary does little to equip pastors for this important aspect of ministry. This book demonstrates how preachers can proclaim God’s grace in our world today by building on the theological grammar and preaching method proposed by Paul Scott Wilson. This book operates on several levels, showing preachers how to contextualize a theologically rich approach to preaching, expanding the horizon of ministry for pastors who might not have experience in the contexts discussed in the book, and it equips pastors with the vital practice of learning to look for and name God’s active presence in our world.
About the Authors
Joni Sancken
Joni Sancken is Associate Professor of Homiletics at United Theological Seminary in Dayton, OH. She is interested in theological and contextual issues in preaching. She is the Author of Stumbling Over the Cross: Preaching the Cross and Resurrection Today (Cascade, 2016). Joni is an ordained pastor in Mennonite Church USA and served congregations in Indiana and Pennsylvania and completed level one STAR training (Strategies for Trauma Awareness and Resilience) through the Center for Justice and Peacebuilding at Eastern Mennonite University in 2017. She lives in Oakwood, OH with her pastor husband Steve Schumm and children Maggie and Theodore.