Michael Quicke is Professor of Preaching at Northern Baptist Theological Seminary near Chicago. He is the former principal (president) of Spurgeon’s College in the United Kingdom, and for a number of years was pastor of St. Andrews Street Baptist Church in Cambridge, site of the 2007 International Congress on Preaching. He was interviewed by Michael Duduit, executive editor of Preaching.
Preaching: Michael, you were one of the first persons to be interviewed in the early days of Preaching magazine, some 20 years ago. How have your thoughts about preaching changed over the last 20 years?
Quicke: When I spoke to you then, I was passionate about preaching. And you were asking me then about the British church scene, which of course I was immersed in. So two obvious things have happened to me since then. First, I now actually know more—not as much as I would like to, but more—about the North American scene. It’s been exciting, at my stage, to come over and to be part of a very big network and to meet people I’d read or heard about. And of course going to churches, seeing it firsthand.
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The other major thing was, when I was at Spurgeon’s I used to teach preaching, and it was a passion of mine; but it was a kind of hobby. Most of my time was spent administering, and I had an awful lot of traveling. I taught preaching in these large classes, and the only way to listen to students was to tape audio cassettes and listen when I was traveling and try to remember who was who and my comments.
Now I have this wonderful time, being able to read and reflect and to be able to write in areas where I’ve felt a particular passion and concern. So I’m a much more reflective preacher now courtesy of the time I’ve been given; and I’ve really gained more of an insight into the North American scene, which has been a great plus to me.
Preaching: As you’ve seen what’s going on in the North American church, what kind of influences or changes have you seen taking place in preaching?Quicke: Obviously there’ve been some interesting trends. The strengthening of the reformed or neo-reformed movement—John Piper and folks like this. You’ve had also the so-called
emergents, though it shouldn’t be lumped as all one group—you’ve had clearly a new understanding of church as community, and preaching has been very important to some of those people.
And of course living in Chicago, I’ve been very interested in Bill Hybels. Whenever people come and visit me in Chicago they still want to go up to Willow Creek. And here you’ve had this re-evaluation of the seeker movement that was, 20 years ago, the happening thing. I’ve since heard Bill Hybels himself, who’s now back as a full-time pastor, saying they recognize that preaching must not just be attractional—sharing the gospel—but it’s also developing maturity. It’s leading people in their spiritual journey.
