From Pulpit to Public Square: Faithful Speech beyond Church Walls, (Richard W. Voelz) - Review
Many pastors find themselves
speaking in public spaces. It might be a prayer at a city council meeting or a
speech given at a social justice rally. Sometimes the preacher can prepare far
in advance, but often they are called upon to speak during an emergency. Over
the several decades of pastoral ministry, I have found myself called upon to
speak publicly in many of these kinds of situations. One of my earliest public
responsibilities came in the days after the attacks of September 11, 2001. At
the time of the attacks, I was serving as president of the local interreligious
clergy association. I was tasked with creating a service that would resonate
with the entire community, addressing the grief, fear, and anger people were
experiencing at the time. Although I led the service, the primary messages came
from Jewish, Muslim, and Christian colleagues. In the years since that day, I've
had many opportunities to speak in public spaces. What I know from personal
experience is that it is not always easy to know what to say and how to do so
compellingly.
I assume that most pastors will at
some point find themselves called upon to speak in a public space outside their
congregation. However, much of our preparation for ministry focuses on
congregational speech, not how to speak effectively in the public square. Fortunately, Richard Voelz, the Associate Professor
of Preaching and Worship at Union Presbyterian Seminary, as well as being a
Disciples of Christ minister, has produced a book that addresses this area of
concern. It's a book that would have proven rather helpful twenty-five years
ago when I was called upon to address one of the nation’s tragedies.
Richard Voelz addresses this need
to prepare for when we are called upon to speak in the public square in his
latest book, From Pulpit to Public Square: Faithful Speech beyond Church
Walls. Voelz attempts to connect what takes place in the pulpit with what
happens in public spaces. There is much that translates from one sphere to the
other, but not everything is transferable. Therefore, knowing how to be present
in public and prepare for those opportunities is important. In this relatively
brief book, Voelz brings to the conversation both his personal experience as a
pastor and, more recently, as a professor of homiletics. He draws on
homiletical theory as well as community organizing strategies. These strategies
include both faith-based and faith-rooted strategies. Regarding faith-rooted
organizing, Voelz points us to the excellent book authored by Alexia
Salvatierra and Peter Heltzel, which is titled Faith-Rooted Organizing: Mobilizing the Church
in Service to the World (IVP, 2013).
Voelz organizes his book around six
primary questions that speak to what he calls "public proclamation."
He defines "public proclamation" in very specific terms, which he
explores throughout the book. I believe this is an excellent definition: "Public
proclamation is communication that is intended for the public sphere, grounded
in hope, and employing faith-rooted language, with the purpose of working
toward strategic goals of offering witness amid trouble, uniting in solidarity,
and/or working toward justice and healing." (p. 9). He defines each of
these elements in his introduction, which then leads to his six fundamental
questions of faithful public speech. He explores each of these questions in the
six chapters of the book.
In Chapter 1, Voelz addresses the
various "Theologies for Public Proclamation." To address the various theologies
for (not of) public proclamation, he seeks to answer the question "When I
engage in the work of public proclamation, what convictions fundamentally
ground my doing so?" (p. 20). In other words, what is the theological
foundation for what and how I speak in public? He points out three possible
perspectives, though there are more. The three perspectives include Willie
James Jennings’s “Christo-Contextual Approach,” Kelly Brown Douglas’s “Kairotic
Theocentric Approach,” and his own perspective that he calls a “Theocentric
Pattern of Transformative Intervention.” He draws on the work of David Buttrick
and Brian Blount to create this process. Helpfully, Voelz offers an important
word of caution here when it comes to the desire to engage in prophetic speech.
He suggests that we put a pause on our desire to speak prophetically in public because
it carries a lot of baggage, which can lead to the lone ranger syndrome. The
issue is not whether to speak prophetically, but to know when and how to do so
effectively.
In Chapter 2, which is titled
"The Self in Public Proclamation," Voelz speaks to how a minister is
present and communicates in public spaces. In this chapter, he addresses the question: "What is my place in the
communicative situation?” In answering this question, Voelz suggests that a
preacher starts by developing an understanding of the extent to which they
represent their faith communities. As a pastor, while I represent myself when
speaking in public, I also represent my congregation, and perhaps my
denomination. So, when it comes to answering this question, Voelz offers three
recommendations. 1) Know your theologies of ministry. 2) "Form deep
relationships among the church community that can weather disagreement."
In other words, stay rooted. 3) "Find and nurture supportive relationships
within the congregation (especially in leadership roles) and beyond it"
(p. 40). Notice that the focus is on the relationships built within the congregation
so that one doesn’t end up becoming a lone ranger. I must acknowledge that
early on in my pastoral ministry, I did not fully nurture some of those
relationships, which ultimately undermined my ministry inside and outside the
congregation. I think I learned my lesson, but this is wisdom I would have
welcomed much earlier in life. Voelz also talks here about forms of power and
strategizing, all of which is very helpful.
The third chapter, titled
"Understanding the Contexts and Strategic Goals of Public Proclamation,"
addresses two questions. First, "How do I understand what's going on
here?" In other words, what do I know about the context to which I will
speak? The second question has to do with shaping the message, whether it is
fully scripted or not. Thus, the question here is "What is the strategic
goal of our communicative situation?" Regarding context, Voelz speaks of
four frames: the ecological, the cultural, the resources, and the process
frames. He writes that "these four frames help give us a sense of the lay
of the land in which public proclamation participates." (p. 66). The
second question has to do with strategy, including goals, organizational
considerations, constituents, allies, opponents, targets, and tactics. In other
words, in this chapter, Voelz speaks to the steps we need to take in
preparation to speak in public.
Now that we have a sense of the lay
of the land and know what our goals and strategies involve, we can move to the
next question. This question, explored in chapter 4, involves "Knowing
What to Speak in the Public Square." As one seeks to know what to speak,
the next question is "What are the theological emphases needed for this
communicative situation?” “What is it that I want to say?” And “How do I hope
people will respond?" In this chapter, Voelz distinguishes between
faith-based organizing and faith-rooted organizing. They might sound similar,
and they are, but faith-rooted organizing is more firmly rooted not just in the
church as an institution but in its theological foundations. That is, what is
it that drives one's public proclamation? Voelz invites us to adapt and make
use of our normal preaching practices to facilitate our public proclamation.
There might not be a one-to-one transference, but there is a relationship.
After setting a general direction
for our public proclamation, in Chapter 5, Voelz addresses "form and
design." He titled the chapter, "The Shape of Public Proclamation."
Here, he seeks to answer the question: "What kind of
rhetorical-communicative strategy will best help achieve the goal(s)?" In
answering this question, Voelz suggests that there are crossovers from sermon
preparation, such that the “what” and the “how” of a sermon are interrelated.
He shares a couple of homiletical forms that can aid in this process. The point
here is a good one— be aware of and take care of how one prepares for public
proclamation.
Voelz titles his final chapter,
"Dynamic Public Proclamation: Concretizing Devices, Lively Language, and
Embodiment" (Chapter 6). Here, the question is the same as before:
"What kind of rhetorical-communicative strategy will best help achieve the
goal(s)? The difference is that in the previous chapter, Voelz focused on
larger blocks of communication; in this chapter, he delves deeper into the rhetorical-communicative
strategies with a focus on lively speech that makes one's proclamation
concrete. With this in mind, Voelz speaks to a great number of possible styles,
resources, and more, all of which are designed to lead to effective
communication in public spaces. He points out, again helpfully, that “as with
what we have explored in other chapters, much from preaching translates to the
work of public proclamation. Attention to these dynamics for speaking can help
our public proclamation come alive and meet the urgent moments into which we
are called to speak” (pp. 131-132).
After addressing these six
fundamental questions, Voelz concludes with a closing word which he titles
"Migratory Speech for Contentious Times and a Blessing for the Work."
Voelz offers in this conclusion a word of encouragement to clergy who find
themselves speaking in public spaces. We may not be a William Barber or a
Martin Luther King Jr., but we should not shy away from being present in the
public square. The good news is that what takes place in congregational pulpits
is useful and transferable as we move from the congregational pulpit to speaking
in public spaces. The contexts and processes may be different, and the message
will need to be tailored to the situation, but there is a connection that can
be drawn upon.
Richard Voelz is a preacher and a
teacher of preachers. He understands the different contexts in which preachers
speak from personal experience and from years of study. He brings all of this
to the table. Because he is a teacher of preachers, he includes in the book
sets of exercises at the end of each chapter so the reader/preacher can test
out what he is suggesting. Then, there are the appendices at the end of the
book that provide worksheets to help preachers lay out the public context and
strategic goals of public speech. From Pulpit to Public Square is a book
that speaks to students of preaching as well as those of us who have been
traveling this road for decades. Since we live in challenging times, we may
find ourselves called upon to speak in the public square more frequently.
Knowing how to do this effectively is very helpful, and Voelz has
provided us with an excellent resource for this moment in time. As I said earlier, I could have used this book earlier in my ministry.
But there is still much to gain from it for long-time preachers like me. So,
thank you, Richard Voelz, for writing From Pulpit to Public Square.
From Pulpit to Public Square may be purchased at your favorite retailer, including my Amazon affiliate and Bookshop.org affiliate.
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