For this assignment, I interviewed The Reverend Dr. John Harding, my supervised ministry supervisor. I asked Pastor Harding if he followed a particular homiletical method, and he responded by advising me to draw an arch. He calls the method he loosely uses, the “Hermeneutical Arch”. Dr. Harding does not have a strict way of following his method, but uses it as a guideline.
Dr. Harding starts on Sunday by reading the lessons for the following week. On Monday, he researches the history, and background, of the text. By Tuesday, he is gathering contemporary examples, listening to people from the congregation, reading newspapers, and in general looking at themes and patterns that intersect with the scripture for the upcoming week. He said he pays attention during the week, and that he commonly finds similar themes in people’s lives,…show more content… Harding notes, also need to be careful not to fall into a productivity trap, feeling the need to explain or justify why it takes fifteen or more hours of private, alone time to prepare a sermon that takes twelve minutes to deliver. Over time he has encouraged the congregation to be honest and offer meaningful feedback on his preaching. This criticism helps to keep him on track and responding to the congregation’s needs. He said there are several folks who will point out if he doesn’t spend adequate time in making connections that need to be made. The key according to Harding is using good examples, with smooth transitions.
Pastor Harding admits, “My hoped for goal” is to say “Let’s think about this together”. He frequently challenges the congregation by saying “Now think about this”. Dr. Harding regularly challenges his listeners to look at how they are responding to the presence of their faith in their own lives. “I think”, he said, “That Jesus taught that way”. Also, he emphasized that metaphors are so important, because they stretch not only the preacher’s thinking and experience, and the congregation as
