Preaching and Personal Experience

In her book Preaching as Testimony, Anna Carter Florence contends that preachers today recognize that they are living in a different world and that the rules of preaching have changed. They're just not sure what they are. She claims that in this new world, the history of women’s modes of preaching is especially relevant. In her study of the history of women’s preaching, she discovered that women have been preaching for a long time (as early as 1636 in America). Since they were not able to do so as ordained preachers until relatively recently, they gave "testimonies" rather than sermons. What does "testimony" mean to Florence? In short, testimony refers to the incorporation of human experience into proclamation. As she states in the Introduction, "Preaching in the tradition of testimony offers us a view of what it takes to become a preacher and to be a preacher: by rooting ourselves so deeply in text and context that we embody the Word we proclaim–and must testify to what we have seen and believed. Preaching in the testimony tradition calls us to live in and live out the Word of God."

Florence is not primarily concerned with the practice of "giving one's testimony." She is interested in redefining the task of preaching away from the crafting of a message toward living in the text and reporting one's experience with it. Those who have a problem with personal stories from the pulpit and those who think personal narrative enhances the communication of the Gospel will find an able dialogue partner in Florence. Highly recommended for all who preach.