PREACHNG 781
The Overshadowed Preacher: Body and Spirit in Sermon Performance
Jerusha Matsen Neal
Description from DukeHub
Using the nativity texts and sermons of Luke-Acts as a foundation, this course will work toward a theo-biblical description of Spirit-filled performance that is sacramentally grounded, contextually diverse, and ethically cruciform. The course will ask how the body of the preacher, the bodies of other persons and the body of Christ matter to the sermon, particularly noting ways that theologies of sermon performance have been coopted in homiletic history to marginalize oppressed communities. Using the experiences of Mary and the preachers of Acts as guides, the course will invite students to stand in the shadow of the Spirit, using rhetorical practices of 'conceiving,' 'bearing' and 'naming' to testify to the fully-human, Spirit-empowered encounter that is preaching. Prerequisite: Preaching 758 or Church Ministry 760
Skills
No skill passed the confidence bar. Weak matches go to review instead of this page: an AI pass that has to quote the description, then a person.
AI-resilient: 2 of 5
- No: Physical, lab or field work
- No: Live work with people
- Yes: Judgment someone is accountable for · "ethically"
- No: A craft you practice with your hands or body
- Yes: Small, in-person format · seminar, 12 seats per section
The checks lean on Microsoft Research, Working with AI (2025), which found generative AI applies least to physical work and hands-on work with people. A signal, not a promise. How the score works