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The International Journal of Homiletics Volume 2

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The International Journal of Homiletics Volume 2 The International Journal of Homiletics Volume 2 (2017) International Journal of Homiletics vol 2 Editorial Welcome to the second issue of the International Journal of Homiletics! For our first two issues we have chosen to focus on the theme Preaching in Times of Transition. We invited some homiletical scholars to submit an article, but we have also accepted unsolicited articles addressing the theme. As a consequence, the present issue consists of seven articles from authors from India, the Netherlands, Fiji, the United States, Germany, as well as a joint article from scholars from Norway, Sweden and Denmark. The homiletic focus on transition uncovers the many shifts of perspectives and changes of traditional practices that characterize the theology and practice of preaching across the globe. At the same time this focus shows how different cultures and nations share the challenges of trying to cope with various groups of people in exile and transition. Since preaching is a boundary transcending genre in itself, we find that these different international contexts shed light on some common and some very distinct international homiletical insights. For the next issue of the International Journal of Homiletics, we invite unsolicited articles on any theme within the research field of homiletics – regardless of faith tradition. All articles will be peer reviewed and must be written in English. However, we are very keen on publishing articles in the author’s native language in addition to English. The articles in this issue In her article on “Exodus or Exile” Jerusha Matsen Neal analyzes hermeneutic shifts in a Fijian Methodist Church trying to cope with the effects of globalization, climate change, and military coups in the Fiji Islands. Through sermon analysis, Neal points to the potential of preaching as a way of making room for new understandings of place and direction in a world in transition. In another article, Theo Pleizier explores the development of homiletics in the Netherlands as a case-study for recent international homiletic thinking. Based on the material of doctoral theses published since the turn of the century, Pleizier focuses on the role of pneumatology, language, and empirical research in the development of recent international homiletical research. Leonora Tubbs Tisdale analyzes developments of historical transitions as she traces the itineraries of Early Women Preachers in the United States who were preaching long before women were officially ordained into ministry. Based on her study of Quaker, evangelical, and Holiness Women [i] in the 18th, 19th, and early 20th centuries, Tisdale reflects on this history in relation to preachers on the margins today. Bryan Nash discusses the practice of topical preaching in light of postmodern transitions. He analyzes the potential of a topical preaching approach that embraces otherness and conversation rather than allowing only one text to be heard at the exclusion of all others. Preaching among contexts of growing numbers of refugees runs as a common thread through several of the articles in this issue. In his portrait of an Indian context, Alfred Stephen, analyzes the challenges of refugees who are forcefully dislocated from their home countries outside India and relocated in Tamilnadu. Stephen suggests a three dimensional narrative approach to preaching as a way to address the existential experiences of trauma and alienation. Two other articles that focus on the situation of refugees in relation to preaching are interrelated: firstly Alexander Deeg presents a new European research project in which homileticians from Greece, Hungary, the Netherlands, Germany, Norway, Sweden and Denmark have collected sermons from various European countries and analyzed them with regard to the so called European ‘Refugee Crisis.’ Deeg provides a brief overview of each of the seven studies. Thereafter, the results of the three Scandinavian studies are presented in a joint article written by Tone Stangeland Kaufmann, Carina Sundberg, Marlene Ringgaard Lorensen and co-authors from Norway, Sweden and Denmark. The research project touches upon the fraught topic of preaching and politics as it traces the influence of public discourse on preaching as well as the reverse influence of preaching on public discourse. Finally the group of articles are rounded off with a ‘homiletical squib’ in which David M. Stark discusses the dilemma of “Preaching Politics” in light of the current North American presidential administration seen from the perspective of Germany where Stark has spent the past year as part of his Ph.D. studies. We are also very glad to welcome David Stark as the the English language editor for the IJH. Alexander Deeg Marlene Ringgaard Lorensen [ii] Table of Contents Editorial i From Dislocation to Relocation: Preaching in Times of Transition (Alfred Stephen) 1 Exodus or Exile: Hermeneutic Shifts in a Shifting Fijan Methodist Church (Jerusha Matsen Neal) 16 Spirit on the Loose in Times of Transition: Early Women Preachers in the U.S.A. (Leonora Tubbs Tisdale) 26 Topical Preaching and Otherness: A Conversational Topical Preaching Proposal (Bryan Nash) 37 Homiletic Transitions in The Netherlands: The Spirit, Human Language and Real Preaching (Theo Pleizier) 47 Preaching in Times of the European ‘Refugee Crisis’ (Alexander Deeg) 65 Preaching in Times of the European ‘Refugee Crisis’: Scandinavian Perspectives (Marlene Ringgaard Lorensen; Tone Stangeland Kaufman; Carina Sundberg et. al.) 74 Squib: Preaching Politics (David M. Stark) 101 International Journal of Homiletics vol 2 Alfred Stephen: From Dislocation to Relocation From Dislocation to Relocation1 Preaching in Times of Transition Alfred Stephen Abstract This article dwells with ‘Preaching in Times of Transition’ by focussing on the existential reality of the ‘Refugees’ (as we call them) from different parts outside India and relocated in Tamilnadu, from the perspective of their socio-cultural and familial dislocation that has created for them a new world in which they are forced to live. Dislocation from the home-land can result in multi-dimensional disturbances and interruptions. In my opinion, dislocation from their land is like uprooting a fully grown tree from its original place of sprouting and germination and planting it in a new place. Relocation of these people into a new context that is different in every possible way is an experience of humiliation and dehumanization. In most cases relocated peoples are unwelcome, discounted, overlooked, irritated, and rejected, In the process of dislocation and relocation, they not only go through alienation from their own land but also experience psycho-traumatic outbursts. I propose that a story method of preaching would lead to a psycho-therapeutic experience. The theory I propose here is three dimensional narratation. 1. Walking Backwards into A New Land – Cruelty of Dislocation and The Paradox of Relocation: An Introduction People in times of transition, in the realistic sense of Homiletics, seem to be the subject of preaching. So-called refugees, are those who have been dislocated from their own homeland and relocated into a new context for reasons which are also not of their own. Uprooting, discontinuity, and re-rooting are the practical events leading to emotional outbursts and imbalances in the existential reality of these refugees. Situations of politically motivated agendas, of civil wars, of linguistic and ethnic discrepancies and divergence, of intolerance to religious traditions, of non-acceptance of fellow human beings, and of perpetrated riots have dislocated innocent, weaker, and vulnerable sections of people from the very soil that has been their identity for generations. In their own, unique way of expressing their pain, these refugees use a powerful physiological metaphor “our umbilical cord is cut off.” This metaphor is the 1 This article is written taking the dislocated people from various parts of the world and relocated in Tamilnadu. They are people of multi ethnic background with their own problems to share. IJH vol 2: 1–15 [1] Alfred Stephen: From Dislocation to Relocation strongest expression of the pain of separation from the people of Sri Lanka in Tamilnadu. Medical sciences explain the cutting of umbilical cord as part of the child birth process, which makes space for the child to be nourished through other means and move towards growth. It also speaks of the nourishment of the child in its fetus form, received from the mother through the umbilical cord. Their perception of the cut umbilical cord is conditioned by their experiences of a new context and of a new identity as ‘refugees.’ The situational perception and description of the metaphor reveals the agony of separation from the mother earth of their own birth and growth where they were nourished with life resources. Imperative to their perception and description of this metaphor is their rootedness and dislocation. They have been rooted in their land, drawing life from the very source of the land. In their view, dislocation has cut off the very sources of life, leading to discontinuity of life. Fear, frustration, helplessness, anxiety, loneliness, and hopelessness are a few of their emotional states as they move into a new land as people who are fallen and at the mercy of those whom they do not know. Fears of being found in vulnerable situations--including the fear of being mutilated and crushed-- threaten their very existence and crumple hope forthe future. Not only are the issues of fear complex and deep, but they also engage their life left behind: homes and houses violently destroyed, relationships ruthlessly severed, and pieces of longing hearts scattered around the places where their lives were rooted and shared. We readers (most of us) of these articles aboutPreaching in Times of Transition are so rooted in our ethnic and socio-cultural setting that it is difficult for us to conceive of the world of dislocation and uprooting of these people except as a variant of existential reality. Looking at their past situations synchronically by comparing the present situations as factors of coexistence at a given period of time, ignores their emotional and psychological longings.
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