Preaching to Head and Heart

Preachers have long been faced with two options. On the one hand, they can appeal to their congregation's intellect, teaching them the substance of the faith from the pulpit. On the other hand, they can seek to stir their hearers' emotions, wooing or warming them with the gospel. While most preachers know that the distinction between the head and the heart is a false set of choices, they often don't know how to bring the two together effectively. In this new book Thomas Swears offers detailed, practical advice on how to move from the head to the heart in preaching. He shows how both emotions and intellect function anytime one tries to convey meaning from the pulpit, regardless of the kind of message one is preaching. Without abandoning the conventional wisdom on the evangelistic vs. teaching sermons, he nonetheless insists that preaching with integrity -- in which the Word is truly embodied -- will always involve the preacher's whole person and personality.

Thomas R. Swears is pastor of the Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd in Wilmington, Delaware.