Sage advice for preachers

DEAR PREACHER:
Letters on Preaching
By Bryant Rueda
Independently published. 168 pages. £7.45
ISBN 979 8 311 408 530

Books are independently published for a reason. Sometimes it is because no one else wants to do so, and sometimes it is because no publisher is willing to give an author a chance. I am glad that this fresh little book has been published.

It is formed of 50 letters on preaching written by the author to his younger self. It is a variation on the theme of “if you could give preaching advice to yourself as a preacher starting out, what would it be?”

The author has obviously read widely and deeply in literature concerning preaching. He has curated a brilliant selection of brief quotes that, taken together, provide helpful insights on the key areas of preaching theory and practice.

To give a flavour of the book, one letter is entitled “Preaching as light and heat”. By light and heat, the author is referring to content (light) and the art of speaking for its delivery (heat). “It is easier to teach good communicators exegesis and doctrine that it is to teach good exegetes and theologians how to communicate better.”

The author urges readers to ask themselves: “Do you overwhelm your listeners with so much light that you blind them? Do you overwhelm your listeners with so much heat that you burn them?”

There are lots of stimulating bits in this book and it does signpost a wide range of wisdom that has come from the author’s wide reading. This book is quirky but helpful.