The process of fermentation in wine-making is a helpful image in understanding what is happening in church and culture in the United States at the turn of the millennia. Ripe, succulent grapes are picked from the vine. They are crushed. The juice is put into a cask where it ferments. The grape juice changes into wine. Fermentation is a process through which the chemical patterns that constituted grape juice break down, and are transformed into patterns that make wine.

The late twentieth century is a time of ferment for the long established churches, and for the larger culture, in the United States. Many former patterns of value, thought, relationship and feeling are breaking up. New ones are emerging.

In this article, we explore preaching in a culture in ferment. We first identify several of the leading characteristics of the current cultural and ecclesial ferment. The article then probes the purposes of preaching in such a situation. The article concludes by identifying resources in the ferment that can help the congregation be receptive to the gospel.

Characteristics of a Culture in Ferment

In fermentation, some factors are in ascent, others in decline, while still others are in both ascent and decline. In a culture in ferment, many elements are in the process of reexamination and rapid change. Some people view the changes taking place as positive developments; others view the new developments as threats, while still others are confused. Some people cheer. Some people lament. Some people are lost in a forest of question marks. Some people appear to be moving through the ferment without much thought; they are content as long as they have their beer, pretzels, and Monday Night Football. Without trying to catalogue all the trends in the current situation, we now mention some prominent examples that characterize the ferment.

One of the most obvious factors is communication technology. With blinding speed, the United States (along with the developed nations of the world, especially in Europe and the Pacific Rim) are on their way to burying the final remnants of the "Industrial Revolution" in their headlong embrace of the "Information Age." The speed of advancing technology is suggested in a recent television news story that showed a person making a call on the car phone, and using voice-activated mail to retrieve messages.

Three years ago, the Internet was barely a topic of conversation. Since then, its development has been so swift that some users are now tying their modems into co-axial television cables instead of telephone lines for quicker relay of information. It is said that the power of this technology is such that a typical personal computer contains more capability than the computers that landed the first people on the moon and more than enough capacity to run the governments of many medium size countries.

The information revolution has direct relevance for the church. The advent of the personal computer makes some administrative tasks easier, such as preparing the weekly newsletter or tracking the budget or members' participation in church programs. Technologically skilled people expect the church to make creative use of the emerging communication media. "Of course, our denomination has a Home Page."