Steeped in the Holy: Preaching as Spiritual Practice
Cowley Publications, November 2007
Steeped in the Holy seeks to reclaim the spiritual foundations for preaching, inviting clergy and students to see preparation and preaching not as an intrusion, but as an opportunity to engage with God, and to develop practices that deepen our relation with God and feed our preaching.
With prose, poetry, song, and prayer, Raewynne Whiteley demonstrates a practice of preaching that is flexible yet disciplined, both artful and theologically substantial. Preaching like this is serious, holy fun for both preacher and congregation. (Ellen F. Davis, Duke Divinity School)
Preachers have needed this book for awhile, for it eloquently and thoughtfully focuses on how the preparation and preaching of sermons are not only labors of love we undertake on behalf of others, but also spiritual disciplines that feed us and bring us closer to God. I love the mix of the expected topics (sacrament, scripture, prayer) and less-expected topics (play, hospitality, embodiment) Raewynne Whiteley addresses in her treatment of preaching as spiritual practice. I also love the way in which she interweaves poems, prayers, hymn texts, and her own well-crated sermons throughout the prose of this volume―making the very reading of it feel more like a spiritual exercise than an academic one. Preachers will find inspiration, encouragement, and blessing here. They will also find a great deal of sound homiletical scholarship, insight and wisdom. (Leonora Tubbs Tisdale, Yale Divinity School)
Preaching is WORK; yet (as spiritual masters remind us) 'Work is prayer,' and 'Prayer is the practice of the presence of God.' Whiteley assists us in appropriating these pithy aphorisms, so that the process of preaching itself has the prospect of becoming a soul-nurturing spiritual discipline. (David J. Schlafer, author of Your Way With God's Word)
...a collection of insightful essays, stimulating sermons, thoughtful poetry and practical advice. (Ventura County Star)
Cowley Publications, November 2007
Steeped in the Holy seeks to reclaim the spiritual foundations for preaching, inviting clergy and students to see preparation and preaching not as an intrusion, but as an opportunity to engage with God, and to develop practices that deepen our relation with God and feed our preaching.
With prose, poetry, song, and prayer, Raewynne Whiteley demonstrates a practice of preaching that is flexible yet disciplined, both artful and theologically substantial. Preaching like this is serious, holy fun for both preacher and congregation. (Ellen F. Davis, Duke Divinity School)
Preachers have needed this book for awhile, for it eloquently and thoughtfully focuses on how the preparation and preaching of sermons are not only labors of love we undertake on behalf of others, but also spiritual disciplines that feed us and bring us closer to God. I love the mix of the expected topics (sacrament, scripture, prayer) and less-expected topics (play, hospitality, embodiment) Raewynne Whiteley addresses in her treatment of preaching as spiritual practice. I also love the way in which she interweaves poems, prayers, hymn texts, and her own well-crated sermons throughout the prose of this volume―making the very reading of it feel more like a spiritual exercise than an academic one. Preachers will find inspiration, encouragement, and blessing here. They will also find a great deal of sound homiletical scholarship, insight and wisdom. (Leonora Tubbs Tisdale, Yale Divinity School)
Preaching is WORK; yet (as spiritual masters remind us) 'Work is prayer,' and 'Prayer is the practice of the presence of God.' Whiteley assists us in appropriating these pithy aphorisms, so that the process of preaching itself has the prospect of becoming a soul-nurturing spiritual discipline. (David J. Schlafer, author of Your Way With God's Word)
...a collection of insightful essays, stimulating sermons, thoughtful poetry and practical advice. (Ventura County Star)
Get Up Off Your Knees: Preaching the U2 Catalog
edited with Beth Maynard
Cowley Publications, 2003
Get Up Off Your Knees is a thoughtful and provocative collection of sermons by a group of preachers from across the international church spectrum who have been moved to theological reflection on the art and work of U2. This book will appeal to fans of U2, students of homiletics, and everyone interested in the intersection of art, popular culture, and religion.
Like a cross between a hermeneutical ‘capture the flag' and a theological ‘Where's Waldo?' (Chicago Sun-Times)
They offer a welcome portrait of what's possible when you have three chords and the truth. (Books and Culture)
I wouldn't be at all surprised if after you read a few of these sermons you'll be hungrier for a more meaningful life. (Scott Calhoun, @U2.com)
What I want to holler is the great news that this book, these sermons inspired by the lyrics of U2, really is a fine collection. Get Up Off Your Knees simply cannot be summarized. Each sermon deserves its own critical and prayerful engagement. (Byron Borger Coalition For Christian Outreach)
Whiteley, Maynard, and company have created a book that could have been subtitled 'A Brief Look at Christianity for Novices'. You might not know the theological jargon, but if you're a U2 fan you probably have experienced the sorts of things these writers were taught about at their divinity schools. (Angela Pancella, U2.com)
It will stretch you, inspire you, make you think―but perhaps most important, bring you to prayer in an active and engaged way. . . . Raewynne and Beth have put together a beautifully concise, but well argued rationale for meeting God in popular culture, and provided some ideas of how to go about helping us do it. (Mary Hess Luther Seminary)
edited with Beth Maynard
Cowley Publications, 2003
Get Up Off Your Knees is a thoughtful and provocative collection of sermons by a group of preachers from across the international church spectrum who have been moved to theological reflection on the art and work of U2. This book will appeal to fans of U2, students of homiletics, and everyone interested in the intersection of art, popular culture, and religion.
Like a cross between a hermeneutical ‘capture the flag' and a theological ‘Where's Waldo?' (Chicago Sun-Times)
They offer a welcome portrait of what's possible when you have three chords and the truth. (Books and Culture)
I wouldn't be at all surprised if after you read a few of these sermons you'll be hungrier for a more meaningful life. (Scott Calhoun, @U2.com)
What I want to holler is the great news that this book, these sermons inspired by the lyrics of U2, really is a fine collection. Get Up Off Your Knees simply cannot be summarized. Each sermon deserves its own critical and prayerful engagement. (Byron Borger Coalition For Christian Outreach)
Whiteley, Maynard, and company have created a book that could have been subtitled 'A Brief Look at Christianity for Novices'. You might not know the theological jargon, but if you're a U2 fan you probably have experienced the sorts of things these writers were taught about at their divinity schools. (Angela Pancella, U2.com)
It will stretch you, inspire you, make you think―but perhaps most important, bring you to prayer in an active and engaged way. . . . Raewynne and Beth have put together a beautifully concise, but well argued rationale for meeting God in popular culture, and provided some ideas of how to go about helping us do it. (Mary Hess Luther Seminary)
"Church in Public Space" in
Wonderfully and Confessedly Strange
ed. Bruce Kaye
ATF Press, 2006
Concerned with vital issues of ecclesiology within Australian Anglicanism, this book is both daring and controversial. It confronts the undiscussable and in doing so brings together people who write from various contexts within the Church. Its diversity of style and attitude reflects the living richness and complexity of Australian Anglicanism today and also the problems and challenges. The book, in four parts, sets out the issues of methodology, looks at influences of the Australian Anglican inheritance, examines aspects of the institutional life of the Church, and, finally, focuses on the social and political contexts within which ecclesiology is shaped and created. This book is an essay , a conversation and a listening between theologians and, consequently, does not attempt to present a unified ecclesiology. As with the Christian community from which it stems, it seeks to engage with its divine, wonderful and confessedly strange origins.
Wonderfully and Confessedly Strange
ed. Bruce Kaye
ATF Press, 2006
Concerned with vital issues of ecclesiology within Australian Anglicanism, this book is both daring and controversial. It confronts the undiscussable and in doing so brings together people who write from various contexts within the Church. Its diversity of style and attitude reflects the living richness and complexity of Australian Anglicanism today and also the problems and challenges. The book, in four parts, sets out the issues of methodology, looks at influences of the Australian Anglican inheritance, examines aspects of the institutional life of the Church, and, finally, focuses on the social and political contexts within which ecclesiology is shaped and created. This book is an essay , a conversation and a listening between theologians and, consequently, does not attempt to present a unified ecclesiology. As with the Christian community from which it stems, it seeks to engage with its divine, wonderful and confessedly strange origins.