What Do They Hear?

PREACHING Powell provides a startling study of how differently the pastor and the congregation interpret Scripture, how this difference affects what the congregation hears in the sermon, and how to bridge this gap with equally startling practical steps.This remarkably fascinating book reveals how significant social location'”such as age, gender, nationality, race, and education'”is when interpreting the Bible. Illustrated with two studies, Mark Allan Powell demonstrates how this plays out most dramatically in the gulf, often quite wide, between the preacher and the congregation. Every preacher who reads this book will appreciate as never before the significance of social differences in the reception of his or her sermon, will see the unmistakable need to bridge this gap, and will receive clear instruction on how to do just that.

Mark Allan Powell is Robert and Phyllis Leatherman Professor of New Testament Studies at Trinity Lutheran Seminary, Columbus, Ohio.