#Homiletics2024 is off to a great start in Pittsburgh AND wherever you are joining from. We’ve logged 180 pins from 7 countries on the Festival Google Map and invite you to pin your location on the map.
So many different sessions to choose from on Tuesday! We started off at East Liberty Presbyterian with a sermon on Psalm 124 by the incomparable Emilie Townes titled “The Theology of Somehow.”
The theology of somehow is a theology of deep faith. A theology that gives hope to the hopeless. A theology that asks "how?" and answers "I don't know how but somehow!" That somehow is God. We are called to be agents of somehow. (Rev. Dr. Emilie Townes) #festivalofhomiletics2024 pic.twitter.com/QkHO4Szltg
— Rev. Jeff Doucetteđłïžâđ (@EnniskillenTyr1) May 14, 2024
Thema Bryant followed with “A Word for Trauma Survivors: Pathways to Healing and Wholeness”
At Calvary Episcopal, PĂĄdraig Ă Tuama led two morning sessions — a lecture titled “Power, Control, and Story” followed by an interview with Karoline Lewis.
PĂĄdraig Ă Tuama (@duanalla ). In a word, wow. So many layers to both his solo talk and his conversation, and Iâm incredibly grateful for the fact all of these are being recorded so we can continue to dwell in them. @FestHomiletics #Homiletics2024 pic.twitter.com/LIRRSNievQ
— RevEpiscoDad (@RevEpiscoDad) May 14, 2024
And here’s a poem shared by PĂĄdraig Ă Tuama to close out the interview.
Lunch hour session with Platinum Sponsor Sojourners
Adam Taylor and Moya Harris shared a presentation called “Protecting Imago Dei in an Election Year” that focused on Faiths United to Save Democracy, a nonpartisan, multi-racial, multi-faith, and multigenerational voter protection campaign.
A full afternoon — four different sessions happening at the same time!
Anna Carter Florence delivered a lecture at East Liberty — “She Wasn’t on the Roof: Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, and Bathsheba, the Women of Jesus’ Genealogy”
Mark Andrew Jefferson provided a double-header at Calvary Episcopal — first a lecture “Creating on the Edge of Chaos: Preaching as Personal Revival” followed by a sermon on Luke 4:16-32 titled “Community of a Cliff.”
Karoline Lewis and Matt Skinner presented a workshop on “Homiletical Self-Care When Every Text is Out to Get You”
Grace Ji-Sun Kim led a workshop on her newest book, When God Became White
Back at East Liberty Presbyterian, Amy Butler preached on Matthew 13:1-9, the parable of the sower: “Letting Go for Dear Life”
The scattering of seeds, the question âDo you know Jesus?â and the unspoken rule of airline travel (when someone in the seat next to you wants to talk, donât!): @PastorAmyButler giving us the gift of a powerful sermon on the Parable of the Sower. @FestHomiletics #Homiletics2024 pic.twitter.com/28Wkakg97z
— RevEpiscoDad (@RevEpiscoDad) May 14, 2024
Ray Aldred led a workshop titled “Preaching from the Heart: Reconciliation in a Polarized Society.” Find a separate blog post summarizing this session.
Anna Carter Florence’s workshop, “The Difference It Makes to Block a Text,” presented an interactive look into the specific techniques that she shared in the lecture earlier in the day.
Rachel Adel Postler presented Pause & Reflect: Expressive Art session at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary
And at East Liberty Presbyterian, Pause & Reflect: Taizé Prayer in the Chapel, led by BJ Woodworth, closed out the program on Tuesday.
Photo credit: All photos in this post by Keith Andrew Spencer, Festival Photographer.