More than 350 alumni, students, friends, and area pastoral leaders filled the Chapel of the Apostles and Guerry Auditorium to hear a sermon and a series of three lectures by Dr. Fred B. Craddock, Bandy Distinguished Professor of Preaching and New Testament Emeritus, Candler School of Theology, Emory University. The lectures, given annually in memory of the seminary’s pioneering leader, William Porcher DuBose, were titled “Preaching Jesus: Jesus in the Letter to the Hebrews,” and were delivered on October 30-31, 2008. Bracketing the lectures were a pair of workshops sponsored by the Episcopal Preaching Foundation presented by Dr. William Brosend, Associate Professor of Homiletics, and Dr. Craddock.
From Left to Right: The Rev. Dr. William Brosend II, Associate Professor of Homiletics at The Sewanee School of Theology, The Very Rev. William S. Stafford, PhD, Dean of The Sewanee School of Theology, A. Gary Shilling, PhD, Chairman of the Episcopal Preaching Foundation, The Rev. Dr. Fred Craddock, Featured 2008 DuBose Lecuturer, The Rev. William H. Hethcock, Professor Emeritus at The Sewanee School of Theology, Dr. Joel C. Cunningham, Vice Chancellor and President of Sewanee: The University of the South
Dr. Craddock addressed the meaning of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. His first lecture, entitled "Jesus Before His Death," examined the life of Jesus on earth and what it meant for the Church according to the Letter to the Hebrews, contrasting the narrative theology of Hebrews with that of Paul and the Gospels. In his second lecture, "Jesus in His Death," Dr. Craddock reflected on the Hebrew writer’s understanding of the atoning death of Jesus, exploring the variety of metaphors the writer used to say that which is finally beyond words. In his third lecture, "Jesus After His Death," Dr. Craddock looked at the Hebrew writer’s understanding of the continuing ministry of Jesus on behalf of the Church's post-resurrection ministry. The lectures will be published in a forthcoming edition of The Sewanee Theological Review, and may be viewed on the seminary website, http://theology.sewanee.edu
In a new and growing partnership, the seminary and the Episcopal Preaching Foundation co-sponsored two workshops exclusively for seminary graduates who had attended the Foundation’s annual “Preaching Excellence Program” and came to Sewanee for the DuBose Lectures. Limited to twenty participants, the first workshop explored the implications of Dr. Craddock’s homiletic for preaching in Advent, and the second provided an opportunity for small group discussion with Dr. Craddock about his lectures and a wide array of topics in preaching
The Episcopal Preaching Foundation also announced a pilot program to bring the “Preaching Excellence Program” to priests in the field at the diocesan level. On January 13-14, 2009, Dr. Brosend will lead a workshop for priests of the Ohio dioceses on “Preaching to the Uninterested, the Unconvinced, and the Unimpressed.”
