There are many books on the market that address how culture, race, gender, or economic status affect the way preachers preach and congregations hear sermons. This is the first book to address preaching that promotes solidarity across these differences. Preaching needs to be targeted to specific contexts. But how can a preacher handle specific contexts when we live in a globalized world? What does local context mean and who defines it? Kim develops the concept of "trans-contextual preaching" to show how preachers can respect diversity and global connections. She develops a new theology of preaching, examines the modes of biblical interpretation appropriate for trans-contextual preaching, and explores designs for sermons. Sample sermons from the author provide excellent illustrations.

In our increasingly pluralistic and multicultural society, there is a need for preaching that is capable of crossing cultural boundaries and engaging multiple contexts. Jared Alcántara's exciting new work proposes an intercultural and improvisational account of preaching in conversation with the legacy of Gardner C. Taylor.

Practical theology has outgrown its traditional pastoral paradigm. The articles in this handbook recognize that faith, spirituality, and lived religion, within and beyond institutional communities, refer to realms of cultures, ritual practices, and symbolic orders, whose boundaries are not clearly defined and whose contents are shifting. The International Handbook of Practical Theology offers insightful transcultural conceptions of religion and religious matters gathered from various cultures and traditions of faith. The first section presents ‘concepts of religion’. Chapters have to do with considerations of the conceptualizing of religion in the fields of ‘anthropology’, ‘community’, ‘family’, ‘institution’, ‘law’, ‘media’, and ‘politics’ among others. The second section is dedicated to case studies of ‘religious practices’ from the perspective of their actors. The third section presents major theoretical discourses that explore the globally significant diversity and multiplicity of religion. Altogether, sixty-one authors from different parts of the world encourage a rethinking of religious practice in an expanded, transcultural, globalized, and postcolonial world.

Discussions of racial difference always embody a story. The dominant story told in our society about race has many components, but two stand out: (1) racial difference is an essential characteristic, fully determining individual and group identity; and (2) racial difference means that some bodies are less human than others. The church knows another story, says Luke Powery, if it would remember it. That story says that the diversity of human bodies is one of the gifts of the Spirit. That story’s decisive chapter comes at Pentecost, when the Spirt embraces all bodies, all flesh, all tongues. In that story, different kinds of materiality and embodiment are strengths to be celebrated rather than inconvenient facts to be ignored or feared. In this book, Powery urges the church to live up to the inclusive story of Pentecost in its life of worship and ministry. He reviews ways that a theology and practice of preaching can more fully exemplify the diversity of gifts God gives to the church. He concludes by entering into a conversation with the work of Howard Thurman on doing ministry to and with humanity in the light of the work of the Spirit.

Different ethical situations require different homiletical responses. John McClure organizes recent literature on ethics and preaching into four ethical approaches. Does your situation require public moral leadership? Then a communicative ethic is best. Does your situation require the development of countercultural moral character? Then a witness ethic is best. Does your situation require ethical consciousness-raising and organizing for social justice? Then a liberationist ethic is best. Does your situation require genuine moral conversation and the discernment of shared commitments in spite of our differences? Then a hospitality ethic is best. Each ethical approach is briefly and carefully explored, correlated with appropriate contexts and situations, and demonstrated with model sermons. The result is a useful handbook for quickly discerning what ethical approach is needed, how to preach that approach, and what to expect as a result.

Thanks to advances in international communication and travel, it has never been easier to connect with the rest of the world. As philosophers debate the consequences of globalization, cosmopolitanism promises to create a stronger global community. Cosmopolitanism in the Age of Globalization examines this philosophy from numerous perspectives to offer a comprehensive evaluation of its theory and practice. Bringing together the works of political scientists, philosophers, historians, and economists, the work applies an interdisciplinary approach to the study of cosmopolitanism that illuminates its long and varied history. This diverse framework provides a thoughtful analysis of the claims of cosmopolitanism and introduces many overlooked theorists and ideas. This volume is a timely addition to sociopolitical theory, exploring the philosophical consequences of cosmopolitanism in today's global interactions.

Many preachers and teachers of preaching talk about the gospel; few name it. Theologies of the Gospel in Context assembles a gifted group of homileticians who think that preachers need to be able to articulate the gospel not "in general," but in a certain time and place, in context. They consider what gospel sounds like for people under oppression, in capitalist economies, in neocolonial contexts, for survivors of trauma, and for disestablished mainline churches marred by racism. Preachers will appreciate these preacher/scholars' desire to articulate the gospel with clarity, especially since the term is so often left unexplained. Homileticians will see a new genre of doing their work as teachers and researchers in preaching: a vision that helps preaching see itself not just as an adjunct to exegesis or communication, but a place of doing theology. In these pages homiletics is more than technique, it is a truly theological discipline.