The Practices of Christian Preaching: Essentials for Effective Proclamation

Leading homiletician Jared Alcántara offers a practice-centered, collaborative, technologically innovative, next-generation introductory preaching textbook. The book breaks new ground by adopting a practice-based approach to teaching preaching and by using innovative technological delivery to enhance the educational experience of learners.

Alcántara introduces the basics of Christian preaching and emphasizes the skills preachers must cultivate throughout their lives. He shows that preachers can learn effective preaching by paying keen attention to five key competencies: conviction, context, clarity, concreteness, and creativity. Featuring the perspectives of a diverse team of collaborators, The Practices of Christian Preaching is designed to prepare effective communicators for the church’s multicultural future.

Call-outs in the book direct readers to a companion website for further information or practice. The online resources include audio and video sermons, video responses from the author, and contributions from collaborators, enabling Alcántara to coach students by showing them instead of just telling them. A Spanish language edition is also available.

Jared E. Alcántara (PhD, Princeton Theological Seminary) is associate professor of preaching and occupies the Paul W. Powell Endowed Chair in Preaching at Truett Theological Seminary, Baylor University, in Waco, Texas. An ordained Baptist minister, he has served as a youth pastor, associate pastor, and teaching pastor in Illinois, Massachusetts, Oregon, and New Jersey. Alcántara previously taught at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. He has written two preaching books and is a member of the Academy of Homiletics, the Evangelical Homiletics Society, and the Hispanic Theological Initiative.