In the Current Issue: "Preaching in a Politically Divided Congregation" (Part 2)

The issue of Liturgy entitled “Worship in a Divided World,” guest-edited by Benjamin Durheim, seeks to explore where our worshipping communities stand with regard to divisions that have pulled Christian worship patterns in divergent directions both negatively and, especially in recent times, positively as strengths. This excerpt is by homiletician Leah Schade who writes about preaching difficult subjects, encouraging honesty about politically contentious issues rather than avoiding them and thus neglecting to demonstrate the relevance of the biblical witness to contemporary life. –– Melinda Quivik

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The Rev. Daryl Emowrey, an ordained minister in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, experimented with the sermon-dialogue-sermon process in his small-town congregation in Angola, Indiana, in 2018. His church is almost evenly split between conservatives, moderates, and progressives—a truly “purple zone” congregation. Following the contentious 2016 election, he became increasingly concerned about the growing negativity within public discourse. Yet he saw an opportunity for the church to become a mediator of constructive conversation when he learned about the sermon-dialogue-sermon method. “I wanted to find a way to point to the love of God in the public realm, to offer another narrative, another view of reality, that is firmly rooted not in the chaos and turbulence we see in the world but in the sure and steadfast love of God revealed to us through Jesus Christ,” he said.

Daryl’s vision wasn’t limited to conducting the dialogue in his congregation, however. He wanted to invite the churches in his town’s ministerium to participate in a community deliberative dialogue. Four of his clergy colleagues agreed to join with him in holding a series of deliberative dialogues at a local coffee shop where members of the community could participate along with church members. They also partnered with a local community action group on the series of dialogues in order to expand their reach.

They hosted a series of deliberative dialogues over the course of four weeks, each one focused on a different topic: the opioid crisis, mass shootings, immigration, and energy choices/God’s Creation. In his own congregation, Daryl first preached a sermon that introduced the dialogue series within a scriptural framework. And after the series was completed, he preached a follow-up sermon that reflected on what they had learned about what it means to live out the good news of God’s love that is so desperately needed in the public square. He emphasized that the church’s engagement with social issues—when done with respect, care, and a commitment to listening and learning—can expand people’s understanding of difficult social issues and how they interact with others on these topics. . .

My work with Rev. Daryl Emowrey, as well as hundreds of other clergy and congregants in the “purple zone,” has shown me that preaching in a politically-divided congregation is not about “quick fixes.” Sustained dialogue and long-term intentionality with deliberative practices are necessary for helping a congregation shift its culture of civil discourse and social engagement to a healthier place over time. It is, in a sense, “slow cooking” ministry that requires patience, willingness to take risks, dedication to the involvement of lay leaders, listening to the congregation, and modeling deliberative practices in ministry on a consistent basis.

Worship and liturgy are integral to this kind of deliberative ministry. Our core worship practices enable us to navigate our “political” conversations, because just as leitourgia is the “work of the people,” so, too, the root word of political is polis—“of the community.” . . . When done in tandem, liturgy and deliberative dialogue can lead to shared inquiry, exploration, and discovery of what it means to live out one’s Christian vocation both individually and as a congregation.

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Leah D. Schade is Associate Professor of Preaching and Worship at Lexington Theological Seminary in Kentucky and author of Preaching in the Purple Zone: Ministry in the Red-Blue Divide (Rowman & Littlefield/Alban Books, 2019). She is the EcoPreacher blogger for Patheos.

Leah D. Schade, “Liturgical Framing for Preaching in a Politically Divided Congregation,” Liturgy 39, nos. 3–4 (2024): 132–141, https://doi.org/10.1080/0458063X.2024.2369032.