ABSTRACT THE EFFECTIVENESS OF EXPOSITIONAL, NARRATIVE, AND TOPICAL PREACHING IN A NEW CHURCH SETTING by Benjamin Wesley Kelley As the church universal marches into the twenty-first century and a new millennium, preachers of the Word of God appear more confused than ever about the effectiveness of differing styles of preaching. The most intense and current homiletical debates focus directly upon three distinct styles of preaching, namely expositional, narrative, and topical. This uncertainty became clear to me as I entered the “Biblical Preaching” course in the Beeson Program at Asbury Theological Seminary. As professor Dr. David Walls began teaching expositional preaching to the Beeson class of 2000-2001, questions began arising from several class members as to the effectiveness of this style in comparison to the more contemporary and “trendy” preaching styles of narrative and topical sermons. In fact, the first several months of class time consisted of Dr. Walls teaching expositional preaching while some Beeson pastors wanted to explore other styles of sermon proclamation. After several months of class lecture and engagement, the time came to preach to one another and to Dr. Walls. To say the first preaching exercise was a disaster is an understatement. In the eyes of Dr. Walls and some of the Beeson pastors, our preaching left a lot to be desired. The class session concluded with Dr. Walls passionately declaring, “Preach the text!” At the center of such tension, I believe, was a disagreement between professor and student as to the most effective way to preach the Word of God. Even though the Beeson pastor class of 2000-2001 made great strides in the practice of Christian preaching, the question remains, “What is the most faithful and effective style of preaching God’s Word in the twenty-first century?” The purpose of this research was to evaluate the effectiveness of expositional, narrative, and topical sermons in a new church setting. Over a period of one year in the life and ministry of newhope church, twelve sermons were preached. These sermons consisted of four expositional, four narrative, and four topical sermons. I met with a Sermon Research Team of thirty-two persons before the project began, six months into the project, and at the conclusion of the twelve-month dissertation project. The two constant ingredients in this comparison of preaching styles in a new church was my role as preacher and the use of multimedia, including power point and movie clips. Occasionally, I also used tangible teaching tools that persons in the congregation received to help them retain and apply the messages to their lives. Since the test groups can only be tested after they experience the different styles of preaching, the research sought to establish the effectiveness of each style based on a post test analysis of each group. Each of the two groups, however, were given the dates and reminded of the sermons so they could plan on being present and attentive. The effect response was based upon the significance of three fundamental measures: the cognitive level of engagement with each style of preaching, the extent to which each person gains knowledge of the biblical text, and the points of application learned and sustained in the lives of the hearers. DISSERTATION APPROVAL This is to certify that the dissertation entitled THE EFFECTIVENESS OF EXPOSITORY, NARRATIVE, AND TOPICAL PREACHING IN A NEW CHURCH SETTING presented by Benjamin Wesley Kelley has been accepted towards fulfillment of the requirements for the DOCTOR OF MINISTRY degree at Asbury Theological Seminary March 30, 2005 Mentor Date March 30, 2005 Internal Reader Date March 30, 2005 Vice President of Educational Development Date THE EFFECTIVENESS OF EXPOSITORY, NARRATIVE, AND TOPICAL PREACHING IN A NEW CHURCH SETTING A Dissertation Presented to the Faculty of Asbury Theological Seminary In Partial Fulfillment Of the requirements for the Degree Doctor of Ministry by Benjamin Wesley Kelley May 2005 ¤ 2005 Benjamin Wesley Kelley ALL RIGHTS RESERVED TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES....................................................................................................... viii LIST OF FIGURES...................................................................................................... ix ACKNOWLEDGMENTS........................................................................................... x CHAPTER 1—Overview of the Study...................................................................... 1 Background.......................................................................................................... 1 Congregational Context…………………………………………………........... 1 The Preaching Predicament………………………………………………......... 3 Description of the Project…………………………………………………........ 7 Subjects.......................................................................................................... 7 Purposes............................................................................................................... 9 Research Questions #1................................................................................... 9 Research Questions #2................................................................................... 9 Research Questions #3................................................................................... 9 Methodology…………………………………………….................................... 9 Independent Variables………………………………………....................... 10 Instrumentation and Data Collection…………………………………......... 10 Delimitations and Generalizability………………………………................ 11 Overview of the Dissertation……………………………………................. 11 CHAPTER 2—Precedents in the Literature......................................................... 12 The Preacher as Herald…………………………………………….............. 15 The Preacher as Storyteller…………………………………….................... 16 The Preacher as Pastor………………………………………………........... 16 iii Research Method………………………………………………………............. 18 Definitions of Educational Terms........................................................................ 18 Expository Preaching..................................................................................... 18 Narrative Preaching....................................................................................... 18 Topical Preaching.......................................................................................... 19 Engagement Level with the Sermon.............................................................. 19 Ability to Know the Word of the Lord.......................................................... 20 Sustained Level of Application...................................................................... 20 CHAPTER 3—Expository, Narrative, and Topical Preaching........................... 21 Expository Preaching........................................................................................... 21 Biblical and Theological Precedents……………………………........................ 23 Extra-Canonical Precedents……………………………………………............. 26 Interactive Expositional Research........................................................................ 27 Strengths and Weaknesses of Expository Preaching……………....................... 28 Strengths of Expository Preaching…………………………......................... 28 Weaknesses of Expository Preaching……………………............................ 37 Narrative Preaching............................................................................................. 43 Biblical Precedents………………………………………………....................... 43 Extra-Canonical Precedents…………………………………………................. 44 Interactive Narrative Research............................................................................. 46 Strengths and Weaknesses of Narrative Preaching.............................................. 46 Strengths of Narrative Preaching………………………………................... 47 Weaknesses of Narrative Preaching………………………........................... 52 iv Topical Preaching................................................................................................ 59 Biblical Precedents……………………………………………........................... 59 Extra-Canonical Precedents………………………………………..................... 63 Interactive Topical Research................................................................................ 63 Strengths and Weaknesses of Topical Preaching………………......................... 64 Strengths of Topical Preaching…………………………….......................... 64 Weaknesses of Topical Preaching…………………………......................... 66 Description and Population of Project................................................................. 71 Subjects................................................................................................................ 72 Independent Variables......................................................................................... 72 Purpose................................................................................................................. 73 Research Question #1…………………………………................................ 73 Research Question #2.................................................................................... 74 Research Question #3.................................................................................... 74 Methodology…………………………………………………………................ 74 Instrumentation and Data Collection……………………………....................... 76 The Survey Research Tool............................................................................