Sermons from Duke Chapel: Voices from "A Great Towering Church"

Sermons from Duke Chapel: Voices from "A Great Towering Church"

Many of America’s greatest Protestant preachers—Paul Tillich, William Sloane Coffin, Barbara Brown Taylor, Fleming Rutledge, Peter J. Gomes, Billy Graham, and others—have spoken powerfully from the pulpit of the “great towering church” that is the spiritual and architectural center of Duke University. This collection of fifty-eight of the most notable sermons proclaimed from that pulpit commemorates the seventy-fifth anniversary of the groundbreaking for Duke Chapel. It is a sweeping panorama of sermons selected and edited by Bishop William H. Willimon, Dean of the Chapel for twenty years and one of the most widely read writers on preaching in America. Opening with the sermon preached in June 1935 at the dedication of the Chapel and closing with one by Willimon delivered at the beginning of the 2003–04 school year, this volume presents Protestant Christianity at its most eloquent and prophetic. Some sermons are pure meditations on biblical texts; others are period pieces in the best sense of the term, reflecting on such contemporary concerns as civil rights, the assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy, and the wars in Europe, Vietnam, and Iraq. Willimon provides a brief introduction to each sermon, commenting on the work and thought of the preacher. Diverse in subject and style, the sermons collected in this volume are a treasure for those who love fine preaching, a resource for those studying the history of homiletics, and a light to rekindle the memories of those who have worshiped in the Chapel over the years.   “The most impressive thing about the collection is the way that the Word of God may be heard and experienced through it. Although I have studied preaching through the ages, I am amazed—and grateful—for the way the sermons in this book can grasp my heart and mind and make me want to be more faithful in my discipleship.”—O. C. Edwards Jr., author of A History of Preaching “These sermons are as rich and diverse and striking as the deep colors of the stained glass in the towering church in which they were preached. They display the craft of preaching through which Light shines. You will cherish this collection of sermons faithfully shaped, imaginatively crafted, artfully expressed.”—Hope Morgan Ward, Resident Bishop, Mississippi Area of the United Methodist Church “These sermons recapitulate the nature of mainline preaching in the twentieth century and ponder aloud the place of Christian faith in a major ‘secular’ university founded in part out of a strong Protestant faith.”—David L. Bartlett, author of What’s Good about This News? Preaching from the Gospels and Galatians “This book will be invaluable not only for people who love good preaching or who teach preaching, but for anyone wanting better to understand the last seventy years of Christianity. Each of the sermons is introduced by wonderfully witty and insightful remarks by Reverend Willimon. These alone are worth the price of the book.”—Stanley Hauerwas, author of The Hauerwas Reader William H. Willimon is Bishop of the North Alabama Conference of the United Methodist Church. From 1984 to 2004, he was Dean of the Chapel and Professor of Christian Ministry at Duke University. Willimon is the author of dozens of books, which together have sold more than one million copies. His book Worship as Pastoral Care was selected as one of the ten most useful books for pastors by the Academy of Parish Clergy in 1979. An international survey conducted by Baylor University in 1996 named him one of the twelve most effective preachers in the English-speaking world. Willimon lives in Birmingham, Alabama. "This book will be invaluable not only for people who love good preaching or who teach preaching, but for anyone wanting better to understand the last seventy years of Christianity. Each of the sermons is introduced by wonderfully witty and insightful remarks by Reverend Willimon. These alone are worth the price of the book." Stanley Hauerwas, author of The Hauerwas Reader "The most impressive thing about the collection is the way that the Word of God may be heard and experienced through it. Although I have studied preaching through the ages, I am amazed and grateful for the way the sermons in this book can grasp my heart and mind and make me want to be more faithful in my discipleship." O. C. Edwards Jr., author of A History of Preaching "These sermons recapitulate the nature of mainline preaching in the twentieth century and ponder aloud the place of Christian faith in a major secular university founded in part out of a strong Protestant faith." David L. Bartlett, author of What s Good about This News? Preaching from the Gospels and Galatians "These sermons are as rich and diverse and striking as the deep colors of the stained glass in the towering church in which they were preached. They display the craft of preaching through which Light shines. You will cherish this collection of sermons faithfully shaped, imaginativel