This paper is a reflection on today’s lecture and reading assignment of The Heart of Black Preaching by Cleophus J. LaRue. This reflection is written with an emphasis on the structure, content, and delivery of sermons. LaRue takes the liberty of deconstructing the sermons that have been traditionally delivered to the congregants of Black Churches. He identifies the distinct hermeneutic characteristics of Black preaching as having strong Biblical content, creative use of language, appeal to emotions, ministerial authority, scripture and life experiences, and a communal interpretive strategy. While this list of components may appear exhaustive, LaRue makes it clear that there is no one-size fit all prescription for Black preaching either in that past or contemporary preaching. To this point, LaRue also points out that there are differences in structure between orthodox Black and White sermons.
LaRue takes the liberty of informing the reader that the essence of the Black worship experience can be boiled down to authentic preaching. Preaching that bridges the Word of God to the life experiences of the Black community. In reviewing and dissecting the sermons of five of the leading figures in nineteenth-century Black religion, it is shown that the Black preacher has been known for presenting God’s Word in a majestic, artistic, poetic manner. The Black preacher utilizes imagery and story-telling to link the biblical text to the everyday experience of the Black congregation. Helping the Black congregation to see themselves in the message and provide them with a sense of connection between the suffering and oppression of characters in the Bible and the oppression of Blacks in America today. The art of Black preaching is built on the effective use of rhetoric to paint a vivid picture of how an all-knowing and powerful God can and will act to comfort the marginalized and oppressed.
This reading rekindled a fire in me that I had not known wa...