The preacher as listener: A practical theological study of obedient-listening in the preaching praxis of the Reformed Evangelical Anglican Church of South Africa

Abstract

This research seeks to contribute to bridging the gap between the Reformed Evangelical Anglican Church's (REACH-SA) commitments to reaching all of South Africa and the uneven praxis of church development within the denomination in recent decades. The study uses Osmer's method of Pastoral Theology to investigate REACH-SA's preaching praxis in order to discover whether this might be a contributing factor to the problem. The research question applied was: Do sermons preached within REACH-SA display obedient-listening to God, emanating from a heard word and a proficient ethnographic analysis of South African complexity resonating from a heard people? Perspectives from neighbour sciences were considered to develop a definition of preaching as the heard word (of Jesus Christ) spoken to a heard people. African worldview perspectives reminded that preachers must not be viewed as individuals but must be considered as members of both current and historical communities. Normative perspectives elucidate that God's demand for obedient-listening profoundly resonates throughout the Scriptures and that this must shape current homiletical praxis. The research also investigated preaching models from Moses, Israelite history, Jesus and the New Testament in order to develop considerations for improved preaching praxis. The pragmatic perspectives developed a tool to aid sermon improvement for REACH-SA preachers.