Description
Reginald Williams understands and hears the divine calling of prophetic preaching as a connection of what happens between the internal preacher and the delivery that moves people to take action. In this book, Williams methodically lays out a definition of prophetic preaching. He selects a limited number of preaching practitioners whose written work examines what is prophetic preaching. Williams compliments his discussion on prophetic preaching with various methods of delivery. He illustrates the preaching methods with vivid examples and explanations that bring life to the listener, reader, and doer of God’s Word. Read and discover the 3 M’s of Prophetic Preaching and how you can add power to your preaching and engage people to make a difference through God’s Word.
Reviews
“Moving the Masses will bless the ministries of professors, practitioners, and students of homiletics for many years to come. Weaving together the timeless interdisciplinary teachings of his professors from The Samuel DeWitt Proctor School of Theology, his decades of teaching seminary while pastoring an ever-growing congregation, and his unquenchable passion for social justice ministry, Dr. Williams’ work is grounded on a lived experience of serving a Living Savior who cares for the “least of these.” Ecumenical in scope, interfaith in reach, and deeply hermeneutical, this book is not only a “page turner,” it is a transformative treatise for the discipline of preaching.” —Rev. Dr. Jeremiah A. Wright, Jr., Pastor Emeritus, Trinity United Church of Christ, Chicago, IL
“In a time where social upheaval and racial dis-ease tend to carry the day, Moving the Masses provides a homiletical framework that doesn’t shy away from this contextual dissonance. Williams issues a call to engage the milieu of the margins as a place for reimagining what it means to counteract and ward against political complacency, and he argues that any movement must begin with monitoring our own self. Thus, sound prophetic preaching does not begin outwardly; it emanates from inward examination.”— Rev. Stephanie Buckhanon Crowder, Ph.D., Vice President of Academic Affairs/Academic Dean, Professor of New Testament, Chicago Theological Seminary
“Reginald W. Williams Jr. was born to parents who were engaged in prophetic action, so the substance of Moving the Masses is ancestrally and umbilically nourished. Williams's rich thinking about prophetic preaching and its possibilities and promise can lead us to become what God and creation deeply desire—masses moved into the world to participate with God in the work of justice, equity, and beauty.”— William H. Lamar IV, Pastor of Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal Church, Washington, DC
“Prophetic preaching begins with the preacher’s inner work and context-determined ways of knowing. In Moving the Masses, Reginald Williams Jr. is alert to the depth of the human predicament in which we presently find ourselves, and he rightly diagnoses the need for black preachers in particular to cut twisted homiletical umbilical cords that have exalted whiteness over witness, piety over protest, and choked culturally creative Christian proclamation. Riffing on the pedagogical wisdom of his teacher—Professor Miles Jerome Jones, the late homiletical sage of Virginia Union University—Williams’s remix introduces a new generation of clergy to a correlational method of sermon preparation that is practical, accessible, and useful for working preachers who would dare to proclaim justice and hope, liberation and life, and move about in God’s world to answer the questi
“Today, the aim of preaching appears to be to change individuals rather than institutions and society. However, Reginald W. Williams Jr. resurrects the prophetic voice, weaving a direct thread from the authenticity of the inner regions of the preacher to a homiletical mode that pushes people toward movement. Moving the Masses is a must-read, as this author writes with academic acumen, theological keenness, a socially conscious mind, and extensive pastoral experience, challenging the status quo to bring about liberation and social transformation.”—Wayne E. Croft, Sr., DMin., PhD, The Jeremiah A. Wright, Sr. Associate Professor of Homiletics and Liturgics in African American Studies at United Lutheran Seminary, Pastor, St. Paul’s Baptist Church West Chester, PA
“Dr. Reginald Williams Jr. is an emerging voice in the study of African American preaching, and the insight shared in this volume is not only a gift to the world of preaching, but also a necessity for the prophetic mission of the church. I’m confident that Moving the Masses will help both preachers who are sharpening their prophetic lenses and those who are seeking to find their prophetic voice. I am tremendously excited about this work!”—Rev. Dr. William Marcus Small, MSW, Senior Pastor, New Calvary Baptist Church
Author Bio
Since 2008, Reginald W. Williams Jr. has served as pastor of First Baptist Church of University Park, in University Park, Illinois. For six years prior, he held the title of Associate Pastor for Justice Ministries under Rev. Dr. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr. at Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago. Rev. Williams holds a Master of Divinity from the Samuel DeWitt Proctor School of Theology at Virginia Union University, and a law degree from the University of Wisconsin Law School.