Those looking for good signs about the new millennium can take heart in this: it was a very good year for books on preaching.

It hasn't always been possible to say that in recent years, but 2000 brought with it a host of quality volumes in homiletics. While there may not be a single book of classic proportions, there have been a wide variety of good, solid books which will benefit preachers young and old.

Preparing and Preaching the Sermon

This was not the year for a major new textbook on preaching, but the year did bring an interesting resource which draws on two significant texts. How to Preach a Sermon: An Electronic Guide from Formation to Delivery (Baker) is a multimedia program delivered on CD-ROM which draws on the insights of two texts: Biblical Preaching by Haddon Robinson and Christ-Centered Preaching by Bryan Chapell. An instructional tool for sermon preparation and delivery, How to Preach (developed by John Koessler and Steven Albrecht) offers audio and video clips to illustrate preaching techniques. This will be a useful tool for young preachers as well as more experienced preachers seeking a "refresher course" in homiletics.

One volume which takes an unusual approach to the preaching task is The Word on the Street: Performing the Scriptures in the Urban Context (Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.) by Stanley P. Saunders and Charles L. Campbell, both professors at Columbia Theological Seminary in Decatur, GA. The book is a collection of essays, sermons and reflections drawn from the authors' preaching and teaching experiences with the Open Door Community, an urban ministry community in Atlanta. Two chapters which I found particularly interesting were "Street Readings / Reading the Streets" (about the way in which one's physical context changes the perspective with which one sees the biblical text), and "Street Preaching."

A variety of recent publications deal with preaching from particular literary genres of scripture, such as Preaching the Gospel of Luke (Westminster John Knox Press) by Keith F. Nickle; From Gospel to Sermon: Preaching Synoptic Texts (Chalice Press) by David J. Ourisman; and Preaching in the New Creation: The Promise of New Testament Apocalyptic Texts (Westminster John Knox). David Buttrick's latest offering is Speaking Parables: A Homiletic Guide (Westminster John Knox).

Due out in December is an expanded edition of Eugene Lowry's pivotal work, The Homiletical Plot: The Sermon as Narrative Art Form (Westminster John Knox). Along with Fred Craddock, Lowry has been one of the major players in the homiletical academic community in stressing the role of narrative. This was one of the key books in that discussion when it was published in 1980, and students of preaching will welcome its return, along with Lowry's new observations.

Another book that was due out in December is Preaching with Authority (Kregel) by Kenton C. Anderson (who has a feature article in this issue). Kent is a fine young preaching professor in Canada who has written an intriguing book about preaching in the form of a novel. Naturally, the book will offer insights into the value of narrative forms in our postmodern era. The title may be a bit deceptive, but the book is a useful and interesting addition to the homiletical mix.