The Third Room of Preaching

Download or read book The Third Room of Preaching written by Marianne Gaarden and published by Westminster John Knox Press. This book was released on 2017-09-29 with total page 164 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this cutting-edge homiletical study, Marianne Gaarden offers new perspectives for understanding how listeners create meaning when hearing a sermon. Drawing on sociological, psychological, and other empirical research, Gaarden presents the notion of the Third Room of Preaching, the place where the preacher's words and the listener's prior experiences come together to create a surplus of meaning outside of both the preacher's intent and the listener's frame of reference. The preacher cannot control the production of meaning but must surrender to the process, giving up the role of creator of meaning in order to become a vessel and a tool for meaning's creation. Gaarden's insights challenge conventional understandings of preaching and invite homileticians to reflect on the implications for the sermon as an act of communication. The book includes an appendix that helps to facilitate the Third Room model in homiletics classes.