2008 Produced an Array of Helpful Volumes on Preaching

Book of the Year Addresses Multi-Sensory Preaching

Each year when we face the question of which volume to recognize as Book of the Year, a variety of questions come to the fore: Which books are the most helpful to preachers? Which are the most comprehensive? Which offer new or significant insights? From year to year, differing issues seem to drive the process that results in a featured book on preaching.

This year our Preaching Book of the Year has been selected because it effectively and powerfully deals with an issue that is going to make a profound impact on preaching in the coming years. Because it has the potential to shape the conversation among pastors in meaningful ways, we are pleased to recognize the book The Power of Multi-Sensory Preaching and Teaching by Rick Blackwood, published by Zondervan Press.

Blackwood is senior pastor of Christ Fellowship, a fast-growing multicultural congregation in Miami, Florida. The genesis of the book was his own experiences as a preaching pastor who recognized that the use of communicative tools that engaged more than the ear caused a significant enhancement in his own congregation’s listening and learning. From that simple beginning, he carried his concern into significant research and experimentation as part of his Ed.D. study at Southern Baptist Seminary.

Both observation and extensive research led Blackwood to what he calls the multi-sensory effect: “The more senses the teacher stirs in the audience, the higher the levels of audience attention, comprehension, and retention.” That was translated into a simple formula:

Verbal clarity + Visual aids + Interaction = Maximum Learning

The author draws on neurological research that indicates that modern communications technologies have significantly shaped the ways we can hear, comprehend and retain information. “Many people in our congregation, especially the younger people, have brains that are neurologically rewired and neurologically dependent on multi-sensory teaching,” Blackwood asserts. Thus, if we want to reach not only the auditory learners but also the visual and interactive learners, we must learn to effectively use multi-sensory communication techniques.

An important element of this book is that Blackwood does not see multi-sensory preaching as a performance-based tool that discounts biblical content. To the contrary, he emphasizes the necessity of strong biblical content and effective verbal clarity in preaching; he simply points out that in today’s communication environment, the addition of visual and interactive teaching approaches makes it far more likely that our listeners can truly hear, understand and respond to biblical truth.

Some great preaching books deal primarily with theory. This book not only contains a big idea—it is also packed with practical ideas and observations drawn from the daily life of a growing church. Pastors will find it to be a fascinating and thought-provoking book. Indeed, it may change the way you think about preaching more than any other book you’ve read in recent years.

And that is why The Power of Multi-Sensory Preaching and Teaching is our Preaching Book of the Year.

—Michael Duduit