I too chose to read and write about Catherine Booth. Her commitment to women
in ministry is inspiring. Especially entertaining is the passage near the beginning of
the chapter. After the Sunday sermon, her husband was ready to close the service
when Catherine stood up, heading toward the pulpit. “He stepped down to ask me,
‘What is the matter, my dear.[?]’ I said, ‘I want to say a word.’ He was so taken
by surprise, he could only say ‘My dear wife wants to say a word,’ and sat
down.”[1] I believe she considered scripture in its entirety, rather than specific
passages when determining her position on the matter. Recently, I completed a
rather in-depth study of Judges and found that women were central to many of
the narratives recorded. The roles were not only as wives, homemakers, children,
and victims. They also served as assassins (Jael and the women who threw the
millstone) and Judges (Deborah). Even the tenacity of Delilah must be respected.
This is a book with a montage of strong women, in difficult situations, stepping
forward. The New Testament records both Jesus' interactions and respect of
women and the contributions of women to the early church. They invested their
time, energy, talents, and money into spreading the Gospel. hile completing this
assignment, I can see where so many of these skills overlap. It was truly
difficult at times to just choose one for one preacher. You and I mostly
chose different preachers, so that gave me an opportunity to learn about
more people than the ones I wrote about in my post.
One preacher we both wrote about is Charles Spurgeon. I shared that
Spurgeon was a preacher who followed Skill One: Diagramming the Text
Structure because of how he broke down the text, but after reading a
classmate’s post, I can see he also uses Skill Five: Bridging from Text to
Sermon because of the way he connects the scripture to modern life.[1]By
diving so deep into the text, I feel that helped Spurgeon gain insight into
how to connect it to the lives of every day working people. Now, after
reading your post, I also see why you chose Skill Four: Naming the Text.
That exposition style writing certainly helped him dive deep into the text.
I chose John Albert Broadus as a preacher to read about as well. I found
it very hard to pick one just one of McDill's skills for Broadus because it
seemed he used nearly all of the skills described by McDill. I ended up
choosing three of the skills that I felt the text communicated: structural
diagram, research questions, and bridging the text to sermon idea. e But
outside of his contributions to homiletics, I found that he had spiritual
determination and commitment to preaching the word of God. e When a man
or woman can find value, see an opportunity and be undaunted or
discouraged by teaching a class with a single student, that shows me a
tremendous amount of determination.1 Broadus was clearly committed to his
calling as a teacher and preacher. Broadus felt he was not merely looking
for the words of God in the Bible, but that the Bible was in fact the word
of God.2 I have no doubt that God was preparing and gifting Broadus with
theses skills and abilities. Broadus's determination and commitment no doubt
led to the eventual success of the Baptist Southern Theological Seminary, as
well as the evolution of homiletics since his time.
e e e e e e e 1Benjamin K. Forrest, Kevin L. King and William J. Curtis, A Legacy
of Preaching: Enlightenment to the Present day, Vol. 2 (Grand Rapids, MI:
Zondervan, 2018) 213.
e e e e e e e e 2Forrest, King and Curtis, A Legacy. 217.
