Kerr

I commend the author Dr David Kuck for his 248-page well-written book: Preaching in the Caribbean: Building Up A People For Mission.

Kuck has chosen an appropriate Pauline metaphor on which to hang his material: 'Building up the people of God' because the sole purpose of preaching is to build up the body of Christ for witnessing.

The introduction carries 12 critical pointers on the differences between preaching in the Caribbean churches (Anglican, Baptist, Lutheran, Methodist, Moravian, Presbyterian, Congregational and Disciples of Christ) and their counterparts in North America.

Serious flaws

Some of these points include the evangelistic nature of preaching, multiple congregations, the influence of African spirituality, the rootedness of Caribbean churches in their history as missionary churches, a strong emphasis on the Bible, the influence of local media preachers in evangelical and Pentecostal churches, among other things.

However, because the author has drawn from his Caribbean churches represented by students attending the United Theological College of the West Indies (UTCWI), he has missed significant and influential faith-based churches in the Caribbean, with their counterparts in North America. To omit this perspective on preaching in the Caribbean presents a serious flaw in his work.

The introduction further carries the basic convictions that inform Preaching in the Caribbean: Preaching should be based on the biblical text, a theological understanding of the word of God; good preaching needs to have a clear goal in mind, speak to the needs of the people, flexibility on aspects of the sermon and being clear and practical.

The book is organised under five main parts: Part One deals with the theological foundation for preaching, and has as its rubric First Cor. 3:11: "For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ"; Part Two offers a step-by-step approach to sermon building and development; Part Three draws on the Pauline imagery of testing the building (1 Cor. 3:12-15); Part Four examines the adaptations of different sermons to various occasions or situations; and Part Five deals with some nuts and bolts like sermon worksheet, supplementary practice exercises on the composition of a sermon and using illustrations, examples and images in sermons and sermon evaluation guide, etc.

The author mentions five genres of preaching: expository, evangelistic, catechetical, festal and prophetic. While the author spends approximately half a page on each of these categories, it was disappointing to note that expository or what can be called biblical preaching did not dominate the landscape of preaching.

Rev Dr David W. Kuck - Contributed

Kuck's definition of expository preaching is "the systematic explanation of scripture".

This brief definition falls short of the reality of expository preaching, if I am to take very seriously the variety of New Testament words that express the notion of preaching (see Friedrich Baumgartel in Theological Dictionary of the NT, vol. 3, p.703ff.), and if we consult homileticians like Farris D. Whitesell, L. M. Perry and John Stott, to name a few.

Storytelling

However, I am pleased that the author included in his book, storytelling, unlike a Calvinistic and Puritan approach, which "discuss the text so as to distill a doctrinal or moral point and then apply to the lives of the people."

Also, Caribbean preaching is influenced by "the historical-critical method of Bible study".

So Kuck brings us back to the storytelling genre of preaching.

Shaped by books

We are all children of Johannes Gutenberg (inventor and originator of a method of printing from moveable type) and William Caxton (first English printer). In other words, we belong to cultures shaped by the books. Our everyday currency is the learned article and monograph. Libraries are our natural habitat.

So, the modern mind is in the habit of working within a literary paradigm. Therefore, we rarely appreciate the non-literary culture, an oral culture. Even the teaching and deeds of Jesus took place in an oral culture and not in the context of a literary setting. In an oral culture, tradition is communal memory.

A group's tradition is the means by which that group affirms and celebrates what is important about its origins and its past. I guess Kuck is begging preachers to get into the mind and soul of the original writer, the original hearer for that matter.

In fact, the preacher, through geography, history, and archaeology, also stands in that place that gives birth to the story. The ancient tale or story must be relived. The biblical story can stand reliving.

For this reviewer, Kuck succeeds admirably in addressing preaching from a Caribbean perspective. In fact, I would like to commend his bold attempt as "an American Lutheran of Germanic heritage" to deal with Caribbean issues.

Preaching in the Caribbean: Building Up A People For Mission is a book I would highly recommend to professional and lay preachers. Although I would have liked to see a non-cafeteria or a non-potpourri type approach to preaching, it brings some fresh ideas to the contemporary preacher.

Dr Vassel Kerr is professor of New Testament and practical theology at the School of Religion and Theology, Northern Caribbean University.