Download a high resolution photograph of Brad Braxton.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. ñ The art and science of being an effective
preacher will be examined at a community breakfast sponsored by
Vanderbilt University Divinity School and featuring new homiletics
professor Brad Braxton.
The breakfast will be from 7:30 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. on Thursday, Sept.
30, at Fifteenth Avenue Baptist Church, 1203 9th Ave. N. The event is
open to the public for $10. Attendees must register in advance.
Reservations can be made by calling 615-343-3994 or online at www.vanderbilt.edu/divinity.
"Often if you ask a poet where a poem came from, you will get
a blank stare from that poet," Braxton said. "It’s similar with a
preacher, I think."
Braxton breaks down the process of preparing a sermon into two
parts, scientific and artistic. He’ll expand on both at the breakfast.
"As with other creative processes such as poetry, songwriting or
painting, the creative process of sermon preparation involves both
disciplined technique and mystery," Braxton said. "There’s rigor in
each one. There are parts of preaching that can be taught, and other
parts that must be caught."
Braxton, associate professor of homiletics and New Testament at
Vanderbilt, earned his doctorate in New Testament studies at Emory
University while simultaneously serving as senior pastor at the
prestigious Douglas Memorial Community Church in Baltimore. He’s
written three books, including Preaching Paul, which will be published
this fall by Abingdon Press.
Media contact: Jim Patterson, (615) 322-NEWS
Jim.patterson@vanderbilt.edu