Corporate Preaching: Reclaiming the Ministry of Proclamation as the Work of the People Pubblico
Bowie, Kenneth Scott (Spring 2025)
Abstract
Acknowledging the challenges posed by the conventional form of sermon-as-monologue, particularly for Millennial and Gen-Z cohorts who value inclusivity, collaboration, and two-way conversation, this essay explores the development, implementation, and evaluation of a model for Corporate Preaching within a singular ecclesial context consisting of St. Peter’s United Church of Christ and Holy Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church of South Bend, Indiana. A form of proclamation by which all members of the worshipping assembly are offered an opportunity for direct, immediate, verbal engagement in the preaching moment itself, Corporate Preaching reclaims the ministry of proclamation as the work of all the people, not just the pastor.
Designed as an experiment of three iterations of Corporate Preaching, each iteration was guided by a well-crafted prompt for reflection that encouraged participants to share personal stories aligning with themes from scripture. Over time, the congregation became more comfortable with the form and more confident in participating in preaching, as evidenced by ever-new voices added to preaching events.
Several insights were gleaned from this experiment. A well-crafted reflection prompt is vital in eliciting effective participation. Additionally, church architecture, community practice, and technological infrastructure, such as microphone use and live streaming video camera placement, affected degree of participation and level of engagement. Finally, each sermon assumed an episodic form of loosely connected participant narratives, linked one to the other by an idea derived from scripture, a consequence of the congregation’s custom of preaching-as-storytelling.
While the lessons learned are unique to this context, other communities employing the model should consider contingencies for moments of extended silence or off-topic tangents and expectations for proper behavior and respectful speech. Furthermore, Corporate Preaching takes a form that follows the customary function of a congregation’s sermon-making, whether didactic, expository, or narrative.
The study concludes by challenging other faith communities to experiment with Corporate Preaching, refining the model to suit their particular contexts. This approach to preaching democratizes the sermon event for settings where power and authority are problematic thereby reclaiming the ministry of proclamation as the work of the people.
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