Big Data Analytics

This concept is up-growing one as the current data storage pattern utilized by the companies is not as productive as plotted. It is refers to following type of data 1) Traditional Enterprise Data: which includes customer related data ERP, CRM, web transaction 2) Machine Generated Data such as wobbles, Trading Systems etc 3) Social Data: I. E. Faceable, twitter, Google etc. Big Data can also be seen finance and businesses where large amounts of stock exchange, banking online and onsite purchasing data flows through computerized systems every day and are then taken and kept for inventory monitoring, customer behavior and market behavior.The capacity of data is increasing on a daily basis. Unfortunately many of industries are not able to manage it well. According to Computer Sciences Corporation by 2020, a total of 35 zeta-bytes of data will be produced as the average annual generation of information grows 43,000 percent. Although big data may be a relatively new phenomenon, its impact is already being felt throughout various industries. Organizations that are able to successfully store, manage and analyze such information will distinguish themselves apart from many of their opponents r make substantial advancements in their areas of expertise.Healthcare providers may improve patient care by studying big data. The greatest prospect available from big data is opportunity the resolve some of the most significant problems worldwide. Current and past medical data combined with genome mapping can help us find resolutions to diseases or genetic disorders. Environmental data can aid in the prediction of climate changes, and can be used to develop better farming methods. Organizations can use big data to help make healthier business decisions. Organizations may be blew to accurately forecast market conditions and how well a product is doing.Defects within their production line may be found faster. Big data may even help make better hiring decisions. Big data can also be u sed to help combat crime by gathering intelligence and evidence against criminal activity. The use Of big data can make a proactive approach towards security threats by recognizing trends that indicate illegal or terrorist activity. Big data along with crowd sourcing can help solve daily social problems. The primary threat, when it comes to big data, is privacy. A substantial amount of these data are personally identifiable information (PI).Although the data may not have your exact name, with proper analytics, you can create a profoundly accurate profile of someone with it. Target was one of the first companies to use big data and data analytics for marketing; more specifically, it used its data to determine if customers were pregnant and then proceeded to send those customers advertisements about baby products. Target and other retailers may have your data with your permission but what about instances where you have not clearly given permission?Passbook's tagging feature, which all ows a friend to either take a photo of you and tag you, or check in to a location, and tag you as being with them. Your image, and location data will be stored and mined. One of the major threats, is the threat of theft of data. Target, for instance, announced earlier this year that they were hacked, and that the accounts of more than 39 million customers were compromised. Although they focused on credit card information, there is a possibility that medical data could have been compromised as well. Big data alone is nothing Of Concern; its what We do with it.

Being an International Student

There are a number of reasons why people decide to study in another country. For one, the educational facilities and competencies of the schools in other countries may be better than the ones available in the home country. As such, studying in famous universities may provide a greater level of academic proficiency and prestige to the person who studied in these universities. Another reason for an individual to study abroad is the exposure of a person to different cultures and modes of life.Interacting with people from diverse nationalities and cultures can greatly enhance the academic experience of a person and will add a depth of understanding to the particular subject of study of such a person. Whatever the reasons are for studying in another country, there are certain advantages and disadvantages associated with it. One of the issues that have to be addressed is language. Does the student have the necessary skills and proficiency in the language of instruction of the university he or she will study at? Most universities now use English as the medium of instruction.Other countries, however, especially in Japan and in Europe, would require a level of proficiency in the language of instruction being used in these countries. In addition to this, the international student would have to prepare himself with the different nuances and difficulties associated with being immersed in another culture. If the student is not oriented or prepared well, the tendency would be for him to undergo a culture shock. Furthermore, he will be subjected to the different effects of being an international student. This essay looks at the different factors and issues that affect the general well-being of an international student.It also puts forward several suggestions as to how an international student could cope well with the pressures and issues he has to face. Effects of Being an International Student One of the most easily recognizable effects of being an international student is t he loneliness and homesickness during the first few months of staying abroad. Homesickness may be brought about by several factors. The environment that the student is in would be vastly different from the environment that he enjoyed at home. The familiar comforts of family and friends are literally oceans and thousands of miles away.Given this, it would be easy to succumb to depression and sadness caused by homesickness. This is further affected by several other factors in the environment of the international student. He lacks familiarity in the place and the nature of social interactions in the country where he studies would be different from what he is used to. In this regard, he would have to adjust as effectively and as quickly as possible. Otherwise, homesickness will get the best of him and will negatively impact his performance in his studies (Andrade, 2006).The international student might also suffer from culture shock brought about by his interaction with people that belon g to a different frame of reference from him. Back in his home country, the student might not have paid attention to the nuances in meaning and interpretation of social gestures and statements. Also, there might several behaviors that would be considered as different from the norm. These cultural differences would create stress and difficulty on the part of the international student, especially if he does not develop a network that would help him adapt in the society (Andrade, 2006).On the other hand, when an international student has immersed himself in the culture of his host country, he might forget his cultural heritage and would display the culture of the host country even in the presence of his fellow citizens of his home country. The preservation of his cultural integrity would therefore be necessary, especially if he were to go back to his home country after his stint as an international student (Andrade, 2006). In addition to these effects, the international student will al so be subjected to learning shock (Griffiths, Winstanley & Gabriel, 2005).This learning shock is characterized by ambiguous expectations, frustrations, confusion and anxiety brought about by the unfamiliar learning environment in a foreign country. The teaching methods that they encounter, the way that they become disoriented by cues and other learning environments all contribute to the learning shock that they experience. The language barriers and difficulties in communication also contribute to this learning shock. Although English has become the most famous medium of instruction all over the world, there are still difficulties that people who speak English as a second language experience.The metaphors and figures of speech in English are sometimes difficult to grasp and understand. The readings for the subjects that international students have to take are full of these metaphors and add to the learning shock being experienced by the international student. The issue of finances fo r studying may also become an issue for an international student. Although it is easier nowadays to transfer funds from one area of the world to another, the allowances and funds for schooling of an international student may be limited.When the international student is in his home country, it would be easier to ask help from friends and family members. However, because of the distance separating him from such relationships that he has this might also contribute to anxiety and learning shock that he s already experiencing. There are instances, therefore, that the international student will have to work part time just to finance his studies. This act, however, is dependent on the nature of the visa granted to the international student.If working part time becomes an option for the student, then this might also have an impact on his studies especially in terms of managing time and the requirements of the school. Given these effects of studying in another country, any international stud ent should be able to devise some ways in order to cope effectively with these difficulties. Otherwise, the international student might be forced to go home without finishing the degree because of homesickness and the learning shock that he experiences. Dealing With the Effects of Studying in another CountryIn order for an international student to deal with these effects, he has to learn how to integrate himself in the society. This includes learning the language of the country that he will be studying in. Learning the language means going beyond having survival skills in the language of the country that the student is in. It also means learning the connotations and degrees of meaning of the language and the way that people use their language. Classroom-level mastery of language is good. However, this is not an assurance that the way that language will be used in conversations and in day-to-day interactions is an entirely different matter.Having proficiency with the language will be an integral part for the integration of the international student in the school as well as in the society in general. According to Koskinen & Tossavainen (2003), intercultural mentoring is an important part of the integration process of an international student in the academe and in the society. This kind of mentoring needs to be administered by international students as well or by culturally-sensitive faculty and older students so that the new international student could adapt well with the demands of the academe and of the society where they are located.When the mentor looks after the adjustment level of the student; establishes meaningful relationship, guides the international student in mutual learning and guidance in most aspects of studying and living in a foreign country. Although there are moments of frustration, Koskinen & Tossavainen (2003) noted that this experience also presents rewards to both the mentor and the student. In some universities and higher education instit utions, their usual approach in helping international students is usually through official programs in the school and mediation in the academics of the student.However, the interpersonal and informal means of mentoring and helping the student assimilate himself in the academe and in the society (Major, 2005). Being an international student poses several challenges. It has several effects, which, if not checked and effectively addressed can cause severe repercussions on the academic standing of the student. By having a good understanding of these effects, several means of intervention can be arrived at and will help the international student. Reference Andrade, M. S. (2006). International Student Persistence: Integration or Cultural Integrity?Journal of College Student Retention: Research, Theory and Practice, 8 (1), 57-81. Griffiths, D. S. , Winstanley, D. & Gabriel, Y. (2005). Learning Shock. Management Learning, 36(3), 275-297. Koskinen, L. & Tossavainen, K. (2003) Characteristics of intercultural mentoring – a mentor perspective. Nurse Education Today, 23 (4), 278-285. Major, E. M. (2005). Co-national support, cultural therapy, and the adjustment of Asian students to an English-speaking university culture. International Education Journal, 6(1), 84-95.

The Effective Manager Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

The Effective Manager - Assignment Example The Effective Manager At the same time, seventy five percent (up from 50 percent the previous year) reported downtime due to security breaches. (McClure, 2003) Of those with written policies, most of them failed to adequately address security issues. When asked why they do not have policies, many answered that they do not like writing them or that they do not want to commit in writing to upholding and enforcing them. Security management is not only technology specific but for to do three things for a company: It is known that accounting, as the word implies, is a reckoning of the financial outcomes of an entity between those who control the employment of capital or assets and those who provide the capital or assets so the understanding of accounting helps managers maintaining effective security management. Accounting reacts to the needs of business and follows developments in commercial activity. One main purpose of accounting is to fairly represent the financial results of an operation to the shareholders, who are the individual owners of a business entity. In simpler words, financial profit or loss is the revenue less the cost of goods sold less the fixed or overhead costs, less interest, taxes, and an allowance for depreciation on fixed assets. Depreciation is keyed to a phase of time that sufficiently reflects the useful life of the asset while it is under the stewardship, or control, of management. If an asset under the control of management is expected to have a useful life of twelv e years, then it is usually written off, or depreciated, at 15 percent per year. Effective management is judged on its presentation to generate a profit on an asset under their control for ten years before it has to be replaced by charging management 15 percent of its value per year. Because the computation of taxes follows the same general format as reporting profits, some feel that pretax profit indicated in a financial report should be the same as the profits reported to the tax authority. In a few countries, such as Finland, Germany, Italy, Portugal, and Switzerland, this conclusion is correct. In most others, it is not. One reason for this is that the allowance for depreciation for reporting financial results may not be the same as the allowance for depreciation for filing a tax return. Whereas the purpose of financial reporting is to fairly represent the financial results of management's stewardship of the shareholders' assets, the purpose of filing a tax form is to calculate a liability. The depreciation plan selected for calculating taxes to be paid to a tax authority is the applicable schedule of depreciation decided on by the tax authority. (Kathryn, 1998) The resulting profit is severely for the computation of taxes, not to judge the performance of eff ective management to generate a pro

Mount Nimba Strict Nature Reserve Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Mount Nimba Strict Nature Reserve - Essay Example This site is also famous for its bio diversity. As per the findings of UNESCO (World Heritage Nomination, 1992), a number of more than 500 new species of fauna have been discovered in Mount Nimba Reserve and there are more than 200 endemic species. The species diversity found here is rich because of the variety of eco tones created by the presence of grasslands which are tied with the forest. The mammals of Mount Nimba include bushbuck, black duiker, bay duiker, forest buffalo, bush pig, white-bellied pangolin, pygmy hippopotamus, leopard, lion, golden cat, two-spotted palm civet, African civet, forest genet, Johnston's genet, cane rat, African clawless otter, lesser otter shrew and chimpanzees. Apart from the animals, there are a number of rare and endemic bird species as well here in. The forests also contain numerous reptile and amphibian species including West African toad and much variety of frogs (World Heritage Nomination, 1992). This biodiversity includes flora as well. When it comes to the biological interrelationship among the life forms, we should consider the food chain. The bottom tier of the food chain is constituted by the flora including grasses, trees and shrubs. The second tier of the food chain consists of all the animals such as deer and buffaloes that assume plants and grass for their food. Finally, the predators include leopards and lions. The existence of one section is impossible in the absence of another section. Thus, all sections are equally important as they depend on each other for food and existence. Though Mount Nimba was not much affected by human intrusions, it had a severe threat in 1992 by an international consortium as it came forward proposing an iron ore mining site in this area. In addition to this, a large number of refugees from Liberia invaded this park for their inhabitation. As reported in United Nations Environment Programme (2008), The World Heritage Committee expressed its concern over the issue and placed Mount Ni mba among the list of world heritages in danger. In response to the Heritage Committee's concern about the impacts of mining and the refugees to the Mount Nimba, the Guinean Ministry for Energy and Environment in 1995 set up a Management Centre that is answerable to environmental and legal questions, for monitoring the water quality of the region, for socio-economic studies and integrated rural development. The strict prohibition of tourism prevents further human intrusion in the site (United Nations Environment Programme, 2008). On realizing the importance of keeping and preserving the heritage and sanctity of Mount Nimba, on 28 January 1989 a convention was signed by UNDP, UNESCO and the Guinean government to initiate a two-year project to study the impact of traditional agricultural methods and iron ore extraction etc, that disturbed the environmentalists for a while, on the natural values of the site. The project proposed included scientific studies to ascertain complete knowled ge of the reserve's extremely rich and immense ecosystems, and technical measures for monitoring and protecting the biodiversity in it. Being listed in the world heritages list by UNESCO, Mount Nimba is well protected. The prohibition of tourism in this area was as well in the belief that it would help the site to prosper without any hold back (World Heritage Nomination, 1992). There are a lot of things that a man can do to help

Transportation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Transportation - Essay Example Transport through water came after. As time progressed, there was invention of other forms of transport including motor vehicles and railways. Transport by air is the most current. From the evolution of transportation, it is evident that the greatest motivation was volume and speed. The newer forms of transportation led to more goods to be carried and increase in the speed. Transportation is through the land, air, water and outer-space. For all the modes of transportation, energy is needed. In traditional forms of transportation, human and animal, the energy was provided by humans and animals. In traditional water transportation, the energy needed was provided by wind [1]. The major contribution of energy for the modern mode of transportation is petroleum products. The source of fuel is very important to different modes of transport. The fuel used differs from one mode to another. Innovation of new modes of transportation led to innovations on the form of fuels used. Today, innovations that are made improve the current mode of transport and come up with other better modes. The greatest motivation to innovations is to increase speed and safety of transport. In addition, there is need for exploring other parts of space. Land transportation is the oldest mode of transport. This mode includes all forms of transports that are made though the land. ... Use of ethanol and bio diesel is already on the way but there is still more hope for automobiles. The most promising source of fuel in the future is hydrogen. Auto mobile makers are already making progress in making hydrogen fuel cell. Unlike the other types of fuel, hydrogen is renewable. Thus, when this technology is adopted, there will be no fear of losing fuel [1]. This technology on fuel makes the use of a reaction between hydrogen and oxygen. The product of the reaction is electricity that will be used to drive the vehicles. Thus, the future vehicle will be driven by electricity and thus, it will be moving at a very high speed. The speed at which the vehicles will be moving at can only be compared to the speed at which the current electric trains move at. At this speed, there will be need to change infrastructures and transport rules to accommodate the new technology. The greatest motivation to innovations is the desire to protect the environment. Fuels from fossil products are accused of releasing a lot of green house gases in the environment. Thus, there has been a desire to come up with other alternative fuels that would reduce the amount of carbon dioxide in the environment. Enhanced and synthetic gasoline Gasoline mixed with other elements is a promising alternative fuel in the future. Gasoline that does not come from petroleum products will also be produced and used as fuel. Engines that are able to use gasoline as a form of fuel have been made and implemented. The green house gases produced by gasoline are about half of the gases released by liquid petroleum products. Despite this, the desire to reduce the amount of green house gases continues [1]. The crude oil reservoirs are decreasing with the fuel. With over reliance on crude oil as

Human Resources Staffing Plan with Three Year Forecast by Quarter Essay

Human Resources Staffing Plan with Three Year Forecast by Quarter - Essay Example It is evidently clear from the discussion that the management has discovered that restaurant profits are growing at a very low rate of about three percent annually and the trend is worrying. The first section of the plan shall deal with the essential matter of task identification. An effective human resources management team will be judged based on its competencies. The appropriate behaviors that employees ought to have to work are competencies. A competent framework entails a structure that defines and lays down the employee competency. The human resources must operate within a specified framework in order to view employees and restaurant s as being synonymous. The human resource team must develop a better working environment and terms for the employees to be effective at work. The aim of the company as Miss Cutter put it is business. However, people conduct the business. In other words, human resources must have what will make the employees do their work effectively. This begins wi th appreciating that employees are human and not just tools. The team should then proceed to put the right structures. Following these basics will determine the competence of the human resource framework. Most companies reduce the human resources department to handling payments and being involved in the recruitment exercise while at the same time handling salary omission complains that arise from the staff. The reason is that the human resource has limited its scope of operations by neglecting other roles. The most significant remains ensuring employees is in a perfect psychological state to increase efficiency at work. The human resources ought to carry out an evaluation of the staff based on their efficiency. By doing this, the human resources department will assume a new but rightful passion within restaurants.

The growth of Starbucks Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

The growth of Starbucks - Case Study Example (Marios Theodosiou). The rise of multinationals such as Starbucks came with the advent of globalization, where trade restrictions were eliminated. Doing businesses in most countries abroad became much easier than before. Government regulations are more relaxed and tariffs were reduced or totally eliminated. These developments have given chance to big companies in the developed countries to capture bigger markets including the Third World. This has given rise to the issue of how to standardize product internationally and at the same time adapt to the individual idiosyncrasies of each country. Multinational firms such as Starbucks face this type of dilemma. Product standardization is the introduction of domestic products internationally with a little or no modification (International Product Decision). Product standardization is done in commodities such as shoes. Multinational shoe firms such as Nike, Adidas and Reebok release shoes that are sold across different countries. The other way of marketing product is through adaptation. If the firm spouses this marketing strategy, it adapts domestic product to suit the foreign market. Product modifications are done. They can be specifically designed for foreign markets. It is believed that 'global marketing of standardized products can, however, lower operating costs, and with effective coordination exploit a company's best product and marketing ideas" (Powers). One of the benefits of standardization is it allows current technology to adapt products and services to the local needs and wants. "It is also possible to tailor standardized strategies for different worldwide segments that exist cross-nationally" (Powers). On the other hand, there are doubts on the standardizing domestic products. Some concerns raised against standardization are national prejudices (Powers). Buzzel posited that "it is a mistake to assume that product standardization is possible without careful consideration of the idiosyncrasies of each market, such as physical environment, the stage of economic development, cultural characteristics, the stage of product lifecycle, competition, distribution systems, advertising media, legal restrictions, and finding the right balance between local autonomy and central coordination" (Powers). There is a need for both. Both have advantages and disadvantages. At this point, we will specifically be analyzing how Starbucks was able to make a decision on choosing between product standardization strategy and product adaptation. The Starbucks' Case Starbucks is known for coffee. But people around the world know that it does not only offer coffee or food, it offers experience, tranquility, and class. This is something that the company has standardized. Covering three continents, the green and white emblem has dominated various countries. Starbucks management has decided to standardize the product all over the world. Its cozy interior, plus

Six Dimensions of Health Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Six Dimensions of Health - Essay Example Bill Hettler   manufactured a wellness model recognized as the six dimensions of wellness model. According to this model, there are six dimensions of wellness; these include social, physical, emotional, intellectual, occupational and spiritual dimensions (Hales, 2001, p.9). According to Dr. Bill Hettler, all these dimensions contributed to the well being of an individual. Emotional wellbeing According to Hettler, the emotional wellness refers to the degree to which an individual has an optimistic viewpoint about himself and is passionate about his life. A person is said to be emotionally fit if he accepts the availability of different feelings inside him and feelings inside others. This individual does not experience issues while expressing his emotions and is aware of how to control his emotions. This individual has the ability to take decisions in accordance with his feelings, believes, attitudes and behaviors. These people gain awareness about different stressors available in hi s work and personal environment and e even develops ways of managing these stressors. Stressors in an individual’s work environment include time stressors and situational stressors. Time stressors are caused due to less time availability and heavy workload. Situational stressors include changes in the environment. An emotionally fit individual has the ability to manage time and adapt to changes in his environment. An emotionally fit individual has the ability to work on his own and to work as a part of a team. If an individual is not emotionally fit he might experience difficulties in adjusting to a team and he may prefer working alone. Teams are of great importance to any organizations and organizations give more preference to those individuals who can work with teams. A person who is not emotionally fit might not be accepted by organizations because of his inability to cope with teams. An individual is not completely fit if he has attained emotional wellness, individuals ne ed to be fit in other dimensions of wellness to be pronounced as healthy. Intellectual wellbeing Intellectual wellness refers to an individual’s ability to obtain information from various experiences. A person is intellectually fit if he is ready to take new challenges and if he is able to obtain and analyze new information. Organizations give great preference to those who are ready to learn new things and take new challenges. This is because organizations are facing changes very rapidly and only those people are considered fit for an organization that is ready to accept and adapts to those changes. Organizations do not give preference to those who lack these abilities as organizations themselves cannot perform well if they avoid change. A person who is intellectually fit has the ability to learn new things; he uses this ability by implementing newly learned things to his workplace. The activity of learning new things enhances the skills and abilities of an individual. Such a n individual can perform various tasks and can become an important member of any team. Physical wellbeing An individual is referred to as physically fit if he becomes a part of physical activities which helps in the enrichment of his physical existence.

Health Care Reform Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Health Care Reform - Essay Example The subsidies will enable the low earners to purchase private health cover. The legal provision also creates room for the development of exchanges for individuals that will be willing to buy cover. The bill also expands accessibility to health insurance by prohibiting insurance firms from denying cover to anyone based on pre-existent conditions (Andrews, 2012). The bill also makes provisions for the creation of an experts’ panel to limit reimbursements to only effective treatments and offer incentives to providers as a way to persuade them to â€Å"bundle† their services instead of charging by singled out procedures (Andrews, 2012). The reform redefines the way Americans purchase health cover by requiring all Americans without employee cover to buy privately provided health insurance cover or pay a tax percentage of 1%-2.5% (Andrews, 2012). Americans that cannot afford cover and do not have one from employers will either go into Medicaid/Medicare or receive tax credits to make the private purchases. Financing of the Affordable Care Act The Affordable Care act will be funded through government funding, taxes and budget cuts. The taxes will include 9% from Medicare and unearned income tax on earnings above $250 000. The taxes will be levied on a sliding scale. Therefore, the more one earns, the higher the taxation. Insurance companies and employers with over 50 fulltime employees will be taxed to fund the plan. Taxes will also be implemented for medical supply companies and pharmaceuticals. Modest estimates by the non-partisan congressional budget office from 2010 showed that health insurance companies would pay $2 billion, medical suppliers would pay $2.3 billion, and pharmaceuticals would pay $2 billion by 2011, and this amount was expected to go up to $10 billion by 2017. Reduction on wasteful spending is also expected to contribute to the budget. The taxes designated. The efficiency that the bill introduces is also expected to cut costs and incr ease efficiency, and therefore; contribute to the offset of the costs incurred. Influence in Legislation and Policy Making The policies relating to Federal changes on pre-existent conditions’ coverage in insurance made a significant part of the overarching initiative, which led to the legislation of the act. Generally, Democrats, liberals and physicians were supportive and still persist in supporting health reforms related to this major reform (Harrison & Gerard, 2010). On the other hand, insurance companies, Republicans and conservatives were opposed to the reform proposal, and they have been actively seeking to repeal on the act that contains the reform details. The opposing forces are still actively attempting to change the main elements of the act. In the initial stages of the proposed reforms, the public was overwhelmingly supportive based on statistics from public opinion polls. However, currently the public is fairly split on the issues surrounding the reform process ( Harrison & Gerard, 2010). Notably, there were also various advocacy organizations that supported the legislation of the act. These included the â€Å"American Association of Retired Persons† (AARP) (Roy, 2012). The Potential Effects of the Affordable Care Act on the Economy The act presents a number of welcome economic effects as well as some unwelcome economic e

Areas of Sociology Essay Example for Free

Areas of Sociology Essay Sociology is a very broad and diverse field. There are many different topics and scopes in the field of sociology, some of which are relatively new. The following are some of the major areas of research and application within the field of sociology. For a full list of sociology disciplines and areas of research, visit the sociology disciplines page. Family. The sociology of family examines things such as marriage, divorce, child rearing, and domestic abuse. Specifically, sociologists study how these aspects of the family are defined in different cultures and times and how they affect individuals and institutions. Deviance And Crime. These sociologists, also called criminologists, examine cultural norms, how they change over time, how they are enforced, and what happens to individuals and societies when norms are broken. Deviance and social norms vary among societies, communities, and times, and often sociologists are interested in why these differences exist and how these differences impact the individuals and groups in those areas. Demography. Demography refers to a populations composition. Some of the basic concepts explored in demography include birth rate, fertility rate, death rate, infant mortality rate, and migration. Demographers are interested in how and why these demographics vary between societies, groups, and communities. Social Inequality. The study of social inequality examines the unequal distribution of power, privilege, and prestige in society. These sociologists study differences and inequalities in social class, race, and gender. Sociologists who study health and illness focus on the social effects of, and societal attitudes towards, illnesses, diseases, disabilities, and the aging process. This is not to be confused with medical sociology, which focuses on medical institutions such as hospitals, clinics, and physician offices as well as the interactions among physicians. Work And Industry. The sociology of work concerns the implications of technological change, globalization, labor markets, work organization, managerial practices, and employment relations. These sociologists are interested in workforce trends and how they relate to the changing patterns of inequality in modern societies as well as how they affect the experiences of individuals and families. Race And Ethnicity. The sociology of race and ethnicity examines the social, political, and economic relations between races and ethnicities at all levels of society. Topics commonly studied include racism, residential segregation, and the differences in social processes between racial and ethnic groups. Military sociology looks at the military as a social group rather than an organization and examines issues related to coerced collective action, survival in vocation and combat, civilian-military relations, and interactions between other groups or government agencies. Education. The sociology of education is the study of how educational institutions determine social structures and experiences. In particular, sociologists might look at how different aspects of educational institutions (teacher attitudes, peer influence, school climate, school resources, etc. ) affect learning and other outcomes. Religion. The sociology of religion concerns the practice, history, development, and roles of religion in society. These sociologists examine religious trends over time, how various religions affect social interactions both within the religion and outside of it, and relations within religious institutions. The Internet. Sociology of the Internet includes the analysis of online communities (newsgroups, social networking sites, etc. ) and virtual worlds. Sociologists are interested in the social implications of the Internet and how virtual communities and worlds are transforming real communities and societies across the globe.

Contemporary Styles of Preaching

Contemporary Styles of Preaching Chapter Five Impact, event, and context in contemporary preaching 5.1 Mapping the commonalities. The diversity of the trends identified in the earlier review (sections 2.4 to 2.8) presents a particular challenge to the analysis of justifiable generalizations about homiletic theory and practice in the last half-century. As Edwards observes, there seem to be more forms of preaching today than in all previous Christian centuries put together (2004: 835). Furthermore, Edwards judges that preachers during the late-twentieth century tried to accomplish a greater variety of things through their sermons than any of their predecessors attempted (2004: 663). Allen, Blaisdell and Johnston similarly describe the current homiletical scene as a smorgasboard of approaches and cite no less than eleven identifiable contemporary styles of preaching (1997: 171). According to Edwards two developments account for this diversity: namely, the sheer number of people who designate themselves as Christians (in the 20th century Christianity became the most extensive and universal religion in history (Barratt, 2001: 3)), and the huge proliferation of organizational bodies within which preachers are operative (2004: 835). The work of the statisticians Barratt, Kurian and Johnson supports Edwards judgement; in their World Christian Encyclopedia (2001) they estimate that in the year 2000 Christians of all kinds numbered 2 billion people in 33,820 distinct denominations (2001: 10). They observe that there are today Christians and organized Christian churches in every inhabited country on earth (2001: 3). The impact of this globalization is significant even in the much narrower geographical confines of this thesis, and it is inconceivable that an accurate appraisal of preaching practice and theory could be made apart from a ready acknowledgement of the fo rces and influences that are properly termed global. The indicators of institutional decline apparent in the churches of the Western world have to be set against rapid and continuing growth in other parts of the globe. This shift of numerical strength inevitably has consequences for preaching as for other aspects of church practice and faith. The presence in the UK of Christian personnel from the southern parts of the world, increased congregation to congregation contact made possible by cheap air travel, and the development of Internet usage, all offer new understandings and strategies from elsewhere in the global church in ways much more directly influential than even in the immediate past. The practice of preaching, like most other human endeavours in the early twenty-first century, takes place within a pluriform social environment in which many and diverse influences from the widest possible arenas of human activity have a bearing. That said, preaching, in social terms, remains predominantly a locally-focused activity, and sermon style and content are usually closely related to the specifics of the sub-cultural frames in which the life and self-understanding of the congregation is set. Consequently, the power of the local context is another factor underlying Edwards observation of the immense diversity of contemporary sermon styles. As Edwards puts it, such diversity shows how radically ad hoc all Christian preaching is (2004: 835). That is not to say, however, that such enormous diversity denies the possibility of any sensible generalization. In particular, as was suggested in the earlier review, three aspects are identifiable within contemporary preaching practices that have particular significance for collective memory-namely, awareness of a sermons psychological engagement, communicative salience and contextual pertinence. In other words, those aspects of preaching that deal with a sermons impact on the hearer; its purposefulness as an event in its own terms; and its relationship to the context in which it is delivered and heard. In order to establish an analytical framework that is not too unwieldy three texts that are in some sense representative documents will be analysed closely. Other texts that develop, challenge, or amplify the issues disclosed will be added to the discussion as the argument requires. The representative texts have been selected as indicative of three prominent strands in the ongoing discussion of homiletic practice: firstly, continuity in terms of issues of concern and of practice methodology; secondly, change in practice and the philosophical and technical components that undergird it; and thirdly, reorientation that aims to subtly change the locus of practice itself. The first text will utilize a perspective from prior to the 1955 to 2005 period under review that still has currency, albeit in terms significantly altered from earlier years. The second will analyse a perspective of more recent origin that signifies contemporary concerns with philosophy and communications theory and the technical practice that flows from them. And the third will examine a perspective that sees the local context of preaching as fundamental to homiletic activity rather than just the arena in which it takes place. The first text is Phillips Brooks Lyman Beecher Lectures of 1877, last reissued in book form as recently as 1987, and described by Killinger as one of the most readable and inspiring volumes on preaching ever penned (1985: 207). The version used here will be the 1904 edition, published in London under the title Lectures on Preaching. No attempt will be made to alter the gender specificity of Brooks words since, although this study readily acknowledges that the preaching task belongs as much to women as to men, the assumptions of his text in this area are a clear marker of changes that have taken place even under the cover of longstanding common concerns. David Buttricks 1987 book Homiletic: Moves and Structures is the second focus. At more than 500 pages, this is a monumental work in size, as well as scope and influence. Edwards (2004: 806) describes Buttricks work as being as influential and significant as Fred Craddocks pioneering of the New Homiletic, and Lischer (2002: 337) credits him with the first homiletic in theory and practice geared to our [present day] culture of images. The final representative text is Leonora Tisdales 1997 work Preaching as Local Theology and Folk Art, which asks preachers to become ethnographers of their congregations in order to understand the human nature of their hearers from the inside as it were. Tisdale is one of a new movement of homiletic practitioners and theoreticians at home with anthropological and sociological models in Christian ministry and alert to cultural-linguistic issues. Her work provides a way into the insights of those who acknowledge that preachings former authority has all but evaporated, but who see a radical social re-encounter as being a real possibility for a reshaped sermon practice. 5.2 Continuities of concerns and practice: Brooks and contemporary preaching. As was noted earlier (Section 2.5), Brooks Lyman Beecher Lectures remained much used as a guide to homiletic practice well into the period under review. Indeed such has been the influence of his insistence on preaching as the bringing of truth through personality (1904: 5) that Brooks expression continues to be repeated in exactly the same terms in contemporary works, such as those of Day (1998: 6) and Killinger (1985: 8). In dwelling on the preachers personality Brooks managed to encapsulate what, in the 1870s, was a new and burgeoning interest in the human psyche. It was hardly coincidence that his lectures were delivered in the same decade in which William James became Americas first professorial-level teacher of psychology (Harvard in 1875) and G. Stanley Hall the countrys first PhD in psychology. Unwittingly no doubt, Brooks reflected on novel intellectual ideas of his own day and, in doing so, identified within preaching practice what was to become a major preoccupation in many areas of discourse in the twentieth-century: namely, the human psyche and its relationship to action and truth. It is pertinent, therefore, to examine what Brooks understood by personality and its relationship to Christian truth in order to appreciate how his ideas were developed by homiletic practitioners in the period under review. What might appropriately be termed personalist (i.e. an emphasis in preaching on the personal religious experience of the hearer somehow addressed very directly by the preacher) has been, and continues to be, a major component in sermon delivery and design. Brooks concept of preaching as truth through personality became a kind of slogan for many preachers in the twentieth-century, and indeed remains a very influential mantra for many practitioners to this day. In Brooks lectures that sloganized thought had a rather more nuanced definition: Preaching is the communication of truth by man to men. It has in it two essential elements, truth and personality. Neither of those can it spare and still be preaching. The truest truth, the most authoritative statement of Gods, communicated in any other way than through the personality of brother man to men is not preached truth. Suppose it written on the sky, suppose it embodied in a book which has been so long held in reverence as the direct utterance of God that the vivid personality of the men who wrote its pages has well-nigh faded out of it; in neither of these cases is there any preaching. And on the other hand, if men speak to other men that which they do not claim for truth, if they use their powers of persuasion or of entertainment to make other men listen to their speculations, or do their will, or applaud their cleverness, that is not preaching either. The first lacks personality. The second lacks truth. And preaching is the bringing of truth through personality. (1904: 5) For Brooks, the two components of truth and personality had to stand together, since their meeting was the point at which the universal and the particular met. It would be an exaggeration to say that Brooks viewed religious truth as essentially something that can only be known in personal experience; but he did believe that truth was at its most effective and powerful when known and expressed in personal terms. He understood the truth of the Christian faith to be universal and invariable, with personality as the site where it was realized through variable and particular understanding and appropriation (1904: 15). Thus although he was clear gospel truth was a message to be transmitted, he insisted that it could only be transmitted via the voice of a witness, i.e. someone for whom it had become an indispensable part of that persons own experience (14). In terms of memory maintenance, Brooks approach assumes that the preacher is deeply cognizant of the Christian tradition and is, as it were, a bearer of it in his or her own person. 5.2.1 The personal characteristics of the preacher. Being such a bearer of the tradition required of the preacher exacting personal characteristics. The rigour Brooks brought to the personal qualities required of the preaching witness continues to be challenging reading for anyone pursuing such a role. Alongside a deep personal piety (1904: 38), Brooks listed mental and spiritual unselfishness (39), hopefulness as against judgmental fear (40), a vigorous commitment to physical health along with the offering of the whole of life in ministerial service (40), and an enthusiasm that made for a keen joy in preaching (42). Brooks saw the task of preaching as always needing an essential grounding in the very personhood of the preacher, by which he meant truth communicated through personality in an absolutely literal sense. The second of his Lyman Beecher Lectures, entitled The Preacher Himself, amplified the point in this enumeration of the qualities necessary for success in preaching: purity and uprightness of character; lack of self-consciousness founded on absolute trust in God; genuine respect for those preached to; thorough enjoyment of the task; gravity of intent in all things; and courage to speak out (1904: 49-60). At first sight the list appears remote from more recent homiletic theorys concern with techniques and philosophical issues, and therefore it might appear as less accessible and relevant to practitioners since the 1950s watershed in preaching identified earlier. Such personal qualities can seem to be more easily related to an era when the person of the preacher was regarded as carrying more authority than nowadays. Although in terms of wider social recognition the preacher is no longer a star of oratory, similar attributes are still sought after-but for rather different reasons. Killinger (1985), for example, stresses the importance of the physical and mental health of the preacher as an aspect of communication, since troubles in those areas are signalled subconsciously to an audience and work towards undermining the intended message. He writes: Suppose we are preaching about wholeness and reconciliation but actually conveying a message about fragmentedness and despondency. The words may sound right, but there is something about the tune, about the look in our eyes, about the tension in our faces, that counters what we are saying. At best, people get a double message. It is very important, therefore, for the preacher to be as healthy and joyous as possible. Anything less impedes his or her message about the life-giving community of God. We are working at our preaching, for this reason, even when we are taking care of ourselves. (1985: 198-199) Although the point is expressed in the idiom of late twentieth-century communications theory the reasoning is clearly akin to that of Brooks. For both, emphasis on the physicality of the preacher is an aspect of how the message will be received in the light of how the hearers perceptions of the speaker. The body of the preacher, as well as his or her mental and spiritual capabilities, is, in this sense, a tool in the preaching witness. Contemporary women homileticians have also emphasized physicality; but from a perspective that radicalizes it by making the woman preachers bodily experience a site of homiletic resource. In Walton and Durber (1994), the negative, indeed destructive, consequences of a profound prejudice in the Christian tradition against womens bodies are highlighted. They note that in the light of this shameful history and despite occasional counter-tradition movements, the advent of more widespread preaching by women with the rise of Nonconformity did not generally challenge the unembodied nature of homiletic practice. Until the rise of the Womens Movement, women preachers, like their male counterparts, stressed a common rationality and a universal human nature that was blind to the particularities of embodied experience (Walton and Durber, 1994: 2). In more recent years, however, some women homileticians have striven to speak from their bodily experience and utilize both the negative and positive aspects of femininity, conception, pregnancy, birth, health and nurture in their theology of preaching (for example, Ward, Wild and Morley, (1995); Gjerding and Kinnamon, (1984); Riley, (1985); By Our Lives, (1985); Maitland, (1995); and Marva Dawn in Graves, (2004)). According to Walton and Durber, such efforts are part of a new emphasis that is fuelling developments across the whole spectrum of theological enquiry. They write: Sexuality and suffering are still rarely named within a Christian tradition that prefers to speak of the spirit rather than the body, light rather than darkness and a God who creates life but bears no responsibility for pain and dying. Women who have begun to preach from their bodies are not merely redressing an existing imbalance and enriching the storehouse of Christian metaphors and symbols but are also provoking new theological debates close to the very heart of the faith. (1994: 4) This emphasis on the body as a resource for preaching content rather than solely the necessary vehicle of delivery as it were, certainly takes Brooks focus on personhood further than he could possibly have imagined. That said, even here there is a certain congruence between what Brooks said and these very contemporary concerns. He did, after all, insist that the needs and preoccupations of no one sex or age should monopolize the life of the congregation, and that ministrations to it must be full at once of vigour and of tenderness, the fathers and the mothers touch at once (1904: 207). Brooks could not have possibly foreseen the Womens Movement and its repercussions for preaching, but his unease with a domineering and authoritarian style in the pulpit-mediated through his lasting influence-at least readied some preachers for a message that needed to be heard. The physical and personal qualities of the practitioner described neither in terms of communication theory nor embodied theology, but in ways even more reminiscent of Brooks own characterization of the preacher, have reasserted themselves through organization theory and the study of leadership. As the authority of the church, in terms of rules and obligations, has ebbed away, and the legitimacy of power based on tradition more and more questioned, it is perhaps the case that authority based on exemplary character has increased in relative importance. Certainly in the world of commerce and business the significance of the personal qualities of leaders and managers has been extensively theorized and debated. In the use of terms such as sapiential authority and referent power, organization theorists have pointed up the crucial importance of a personal knowledge and skill that readily communicates itself to others, and a personality-based ability to influence by attracting loyalty (Rees and Porter, 2001: 82). Other theorists, e.g. Charles Handy, talk in terms of the invisible but felt pull that is described as magnetism (1985: 135). Handy writes: Aspects of magnetism, the unseen drawing-power of one individual, are found all the time. Trust, respect, charm, infectious enthusiasm, these attributes all allow us to influence people without apparently imposing on them. The invisibility of magnetism is a major attraction as is its attachment to one individual. (1985: 136) Brooks himself used the very term magnetism and described it as: the quality that kindles at the sight of men, that feels a keen joy at the meeting of truth and the human mind, and recognizes how God made them for each other. It is the power by which a man loses himself and becomes but the sympathetic atmosphere between the truth on one side of him and the man on the other side of him. (1904: 42) Excluding the gender specificity, Handy might have written in very similar terms. (Comparable thoughts, although using other nomenclature, can also be found, for example in Schein, 1992: 229; Zohar and Marshall, 2000: 259; and Nelson, 1999: 76). The significance of the personal charisma of the preacher is, perhaps, in the process of rehabilitation via business practices that readily recognize the importance of personal as well as systemic qualities in the effective functioning of organizations. With the support of such an appreciation, a contemporary homiletician, such as Day, can assert, without risking suspicion and disapprobation, that the hope of the sermon lies in the authenticity of the preacher (1998: 147). As regards the maintenance of tradition as collective memory, the resurgence of individualized authority raises the question whether organizational structures within the churches are strong enough to prevent intentional or unintentional abuse of that corporate memory bearin g responsibility. 5.2.2 The preacher as learner and as pastor. Before leaving issues associated with personhood, two of Brooks themes regarding the preachers actions are worth considering since, again, they are things that continue to be widely discussed in the literature; namely, the preacher as learner and the preacher as pastor. After considering the dangers to the preachers personality of self-conceit, over-concern with failure, self-indulgence, and narrowness, Brooks brings his second lecture to a close with a vigorous plea for what would now be called lifelong learning. He writes: In [Christian ministry] he who is faithful must go on learning more and more for ever. His growth in learning is all bound up with his growth in character. Nowhere else do the moral and intellectual so sympathize, and lose or gain together. The minister must grow. His true growth is not necessarily a change of views. It is a change of view. It is not revolution. It is progress. It is a continual climbing which opens continually wider prospects. It repeats the experience of Christs disciples, of whom their Lord was always making larger men and then giving them larger truth of which their enlarged natures had become capable. (1904: 70) What Brooks discerned as an essential component of the preachers disposition has nowadays been widened to embrace all who claim to be faithful believers. Discipleship as lifelong learning is a concept in wide contemporary currency in the churches, and is discussed, for example, in documents such as the published strategies of the Church of England, the Methodist Church and the United Reformed Church for training, detailed in the reports Formation for Ministry within a Learning Church (2003) and Shaping the Future: New patterns of training for lay and ordained (2006). The notion of Christian leaders needing to be exemplars in this ongoing commitment to learning and personal growth figures in much of the literature on congregations and pastoral ministry, such as Mead (1994), Baumohl (1984), Hawkins (1997), and Anderson (1997); albeit these and numerous other authors, make it plain that the goal of such action is the enhancement of learning in the whole church. In the preaching literatu re, allied perspectives are expressed in such concepts as local theology (Tisdale, 1997), conversational preaching (Rose, 1997), listening to or with sermon preparation (Van Harn, 2005), embodying the scriptures communally (Davis and Hays, 2003), and interactive preaching (Hunter, 2004). Through these and other mechanisms, Brooks call for continuous learning on the part of the preacher finds its contemporary expression in practices that aim to widen that learning to include the whole body of people who are party to the sermon and the preachers and their own wider ministry. As Anderson puts it, every act of ministry teaches something about God (1997: 8). That is a sentiment to which Brooks would have been sympathetic given his emphasis on the absolute core of preaching as the widest of concern for souls. Learning, in collective memory theory, is often associated with the changing of the meanings and understandings of memories, and the processes by which traditions are appropriated by individuals. As aspects of learning clearly related to relationships they echo contemporary concern in the church about whole body learning. In Brooks description of the preacher as pastor this analysis reaches very familiar territory, in that such a description probably remains the pre-eminent designation of the homiletician within the churches. Brooks thought on this matter was absolutely unequivocal: The preacher needs to be pastor, that he may preach to real men. The pastor must be preacher, that he may keep the dignity of his work alive. The preacher, who is not a pastor, grows remote. The pastor, who is not a preacher, grows petty. Never be content to let men truthfully say of you, He is a preacher, but no pastor; or, He is a pastor, but no preacher. Be both; for you cannot really be one unless you also are the other. (1904: 77) The conviction remains no less powerful more than a century after Brooks lectures: for example, Eric Devenport writing in 1986 could assert, without fear that his opinion would be controversial: Preaching and pastoral work go hand in hand. This is one of those truths that has to be proclaimed time after time, for unless it is heard, then most preaching will not only be dull but dead. (in Hunter, 2004: 145) Clearly, at different times and in different church structures, the nature of pastoral practice has been viewed in a variety of ways. Sometimes it has been mutual support in discipleship, and at other times psychotherapeutic intervention. In some circumstances it has been ad hoc care and conversation, and in others programmatic structures of community creation. Amongst these and many other activities, those who would preach have frequently seen such pastoral practice as a fundamental adjunct to the homiletic task. Although the influence of the problem centred preaching method of Henry Emerson Fosdick, mentioned above (section 2.5), has waned in recent decades, the notion that preaching must somehow relate to the felt life-concerns of those in the congregation is still the key to good practice for many preachers. Whether the emphasis is Tisdales (1997) preacher as the caretaker of local theology, Willimons (1979) or Longs (1989) straightforward emphasis on the role of pastor, Pasquare llos (2005) preaching as the development of communal wisdom, Buechners (1977) telling the truth in love, or Van Harns (2005) insistence on listening in preaching, the overarching perspective is that of pastoral care to individuals and groups. The tradition as collective memory must, in these circumstances, serve pastoral needs. Here the link to the presentist character of collective memory appears strong. 5.2.3 Preachings first purpose and the style appropriate to it. Returning to the issue of preaching as art. From Brooks paramount concern with personhood and themes that flow from it, this discussion now turns to two other aspects of his lectures that remain significant concerns in homiletic literature: style of language, and preachings first purpose. In his emphasis on preaching as witness, Brooks made a distinction that continues to figure prominently in homiletic texts to this day: namely, the difference between preaching about Christ and preaching Christ (1904: 20). Preachers, Brooks insisted, should announce Christianity as a message and proclaim Christ as a Saviour not-discuss Christianity as a problem (1904: 21). He asserted: Definers and defenders of the faith are always needed, but it is bad for a church when its ministers count it their true work to define and defend the faith rather than to preach the Gospel. Beware of the tendency to preach about Christianity, and try to preach Christ. (1904: 21) This distinction continues to be vigorously promoted, particularly amongst the New Homiletic advocates of an inductive sermon methodology. From the distinction there comes an emphasis in sermonic style on a demonstrably engaging, emotionally affective, and inclusivist presentation, rather than a detached, analytical or objective stance. Brooks would have undoubtedly concurred with David Bartletts worries about sermon style that appears to make sin more interesting than grace, and evil more lively than goodness (in Graves, 2004: 25). Bartlett suggests that sermons too often misdirect their hearers by putting active or abstract language and thoughts in the wrong places. He writes, For the most part we show evil and then tell about goodness. We show judgment and then talk about the doctrine of mercy (in Graves, 2004: 25). Yet again, Brooks lectures were extraordinary prescient of a concern that has become commonplace these many years later. Likewise, Brooks conviction that a sermon is essentially a tool and not an end in itself is also a perspective that continues to be vigorously debated (Brooks, 1904: 110). Unlike Browne (1958), Brooks was insistent that preaching is not an art form. He wrote: The definition and immediate purpose which a sermon has set before it makes it impossible to consider it as a work of art, and every attempt to consider it so works injury to the purpose for which the sermon was created. Many of the ineffective sermons that are made owe their failure to a blind and fruitless effort to produce something which shall be a work of art, conforming to some type or pattern which is not clearly understood but is supposed to be essential and eternal. (1904: 109) In many ways, Brownes advocacy of the sermon as art-form (1958: 76) was a reaction to those who had taken Brooks evident pragmatism and utilitarianism as regards technique and turned it into a bald instructionalism that claimed too much for itself and was simply tedious. That was not Brooks intention, however, as his aim was an absolute focus on the tumultuous eagerness of earnest purpose (1904: 110). His overriding concern was that sermons should engage and communicate in such a way as to affect and mark personalities at their most profound level. As such, his understanding of the nature of sermonic engagement serves the purposes of collective memory. His objection to preaching as an art-form was the tendency he saw for art to be an end in itself-over concerned with pure forms and the abstractions of principles (see, for example, pages 110 and 267 of the 1904 edition). These many years later, art operates, and is applied within immensely diverse environments wholly unknown when Brooks lectured: so his criticism is, perhaps, no longer apposite. On the other hand, how far and in what ways artistic expression relates to and uses tradition is a question rather more vexed now than in Brooks day. The one aspect of artistic endeavour Brooks was willing to concede was art in the sense of an awesome appreciation of the mysteriousness of life. This was something Brooks regarded as an essential component of the preachers outlook, and was the reason for his advocacy of the preacher as, at least in some measure, a poet (1904: 262). Preaching as art form brings to the forefront of homiletic awareness the sermons place in the imaginative construal of engaging gospel alternatives to commonplace understandings and outlooks. Collective memory theory suggests that affiliation to group identity is an essential element in the continuity of memory. What the emphasis on preaching as art form does is alert the preacher to the need to create in preaching that sense of engagement, creativity and exploration that aims beyond utilitarian instruction. Here, preaching is seen as genuinely performative. Like the repeated performances of a classic drama, a sermon hearer can become intensively engaged again and again with material that, although familiar, becomes in the engagement surprisingly new. Likewise the preacher as performer or artist, works with familiar texts in order to render then creatively new in a sermon. From both sides of the sermon event collective memory is supported via the performative interaction. The discussion of art related issues in contemporary homiletic literature largely supports this assessment. Morris, in his Raising the Dead: The Art of the preacher as Public Performer, makes performance the guiding principle of all homiletics and insists that preaching should delight and enrich in ways similar to other mediums (1996: 19). Gilmore, in his Preaching as Theatre (1996) shares the same concern with performance, and designates preaching as a dramatic event that happens. He writes: As long as preaching is seen as lecturing or teaching, then, in order for it to be effective, listeners have to go away and do something about it. If it is art, they dont. By the time it is over something has happened, or has failed to happen. This is what makes preaching as an art distinctive, more exciting and satisfying when it works, more depressing and worrying when it doesnt. (1996: 7) Other homileticians are a little more reserved and tend to use the idea of art or artistic endeavour as but one tool the preacher can employ. For example, in Allen (1998), the appreciation of works of art and artistic frames for sermons are advocated as ways to create spheres of perception i Contemporary Styles of Preaching Contemporary Styles of Preaching Chapter Five Impact, event, and context in contemporary preaching 5.1 Mapping the commonalities. The diversity of the trends identified in the earlier review (sections 2.4 to 2.8) presents a particular challenge to the analysis of justifiable generalizations about homiletic theory and practice in the last half-century. As Edwards observes, there seem to be more forms of preaching today than in all previous Christian centuries put together (2004: 835). Furthermore, Edwards judges that preachers during the late-twentieth century tried to accomplish a greater variety of things through their sermons than any of their predecessors attempted (2004: 663). Allen, Blaisdell and Johnston similarly describe the current homiletical scene as a smorgasboard of approaches and cite no less than eleven identifiable contemporary styles of preaching (1997: 171). According to Edwards two developments account for this diversity: namely, the sheer number of people who designate themselves as Christians (in the 20th century Christianity became the most extensive and universal religion in history (Barratt, 2001: 3)), and the huge proliferation of organizational bodies within which preachers are operative (2004: 835). The work of the statisticians Barratt, Kurian and Johnson supports Edwards judgement; in their World Christian Encyclopedia (2001) they estimate that in the year 2000 Christians of all kinds numbered 2 billion people in 33,820 distinct denominations (2001: 10). They observe that there are today Christians and organized Christian churches in every inhabited country on earth (2001: 3). The impact of this globalization is significant even in the much narrower geographical confines of this thesis, and it is inconceivable that an accurate appraisal of preaching practice and theory could be made apart from a ready acknowledgement of the fo rces and influences that are properly termed global. The indicators of institutional decline apparent in the churches of the Western world have to be set against rapid and continuing growth in other parts of the globe. This shift of numerical strength inevitably has consequences for preaching as for other aspects of church practice and faith. The presence in the UK of Christian personnel from the southern parts of the world, increased congregation to congregation contact made possible by cheap air travel, and the development of Internet usage, all offer new understandings and strategies from elsewhere in the global church in ways much more directly influential than even in the immediate past. The practice of preaching, like most other human endeavours in the early twenty-first century, takes place within a pluriform social environment in which many and diverse influences from the widest possible arenas of human activity have a bearing. That said, preaching, in social terms, remains predominantly a locally-focused activity, and sermon style and content are usually closely related to the specifics of the sub-cultural frames in which the life and self-understanding of the congregation is set. Consequently, the power of the local context is another factor underlying Edwards observation of the immense diversity of contemporary sermon styles. As Edwards puts it, such diversity shows how radically ad hoc all Christian preaching is (2004: 835). That is not to say, however, that such enormous diversity denies the possibility of any sensible generalization. In particular, as was suggested in the earlier review, three aspects are identifiable within contemporary preaching practices that have particular significance for collective memory-namely, awareness of a sermons psychological engagement, communicative salience and contextual pertinence. In other words, those aspects of preaching that deal with a sermons impact on the hearer; its purposefulness as an event in its own terms; and its relationship to the context in which it is delivered and heard. In order to establish an analytical framework that is not too unwieldy three texts that are in some sense representative documents will be analysed closely. Other texts that develop, challenge, or amplify the issues disclosed will be added to the discussion as the argument requires. The representative texts have been selected as indicative of three prominent strands in the ongoing discussion of homiletic practice: firstly, continuity in terms of issues of concern and of practice methodology; secondly, change in practice and the philosophical and technical components that undergird it; and thirdly, reorientation that aims to subtly change the locus of practice itself. The first text will utilize a perspective from prior to the 1955 to 2005 period under review that still has currency, albeit in terms significantly altered from earlier years. The second will analyse a perspective of more recent origin that signifies contemporary concerns with philosophy and communications theory and the technical practice that flows from them. And the third will examine a perspective that sees the local context of preaching as fundamental to homiletic activity rather than just the arena in which it takes place. The first text is Phillips Brooks Lyman Beecher Lectures of 1877, last reissued in book form as recently as 1987, and described by Killinger as one of the most readable and inspiring volumes on preaching ever penned (1985: 207). The version used here will be the 1904 edition, published in London under the title Lectures on Preaching. No attempt will be made to alter the gender specificity of Brooks words since, although this study readily acknowledges that the preaching task belongs as much to women as to men, the assumptions of his text in this area are a clear marker of changes that have taken place even under the cover of longstanding common concerns. David Buttricks 1987 book Homiletic: Moves and Structures is the second focus. At more than 500 pages, this is a monumental work in size, as well as scope and influence. Edwards (2004: 806) describes Buttricks work as being as influential and significant as Fred Craddocks pioneering of the New Homiletic, and Lischer (2002: 337) credits him with the first homiletic in theory and practice geared to our [present day] culture of images. The final representative text is Leonora Tisdales 1997 work Preaching as Local Theology and Folk Art, which asks preachers to become ethnographers of their congregations in order to understand the human nature of their hearers from the inside as it were. Tisdale is one of a new movement of homiletic practitioners and theoreticians at home with anthropological and sociological models in Christian ministry and alert to cultural-linguistic issues. Her work provides a way into the insights of those who acknowledge that preachings former authority has all but evaporated, but who see a radical social re-encounter as being a real possibility for a reshaped sermon practice. 5.2 Continuities of concerns and practice: Brooks and contemporary preaching. As was noted earlier (Section 2.5), Brooks Lyman Beecher Lectures remained much used as a guide to homiletic practice well into the period under review. Indeed such has been the influence of his insistence on preaching as the bringing of truth through personality (1904: 5) that Brooks expression continues to be repeated in exactly the same terms in contemporary works, such as those of Day (1998: 6) and Killinger (1985: 8). In dwelling on the preachers personality Brooks managed to encapsulate what, in the 1870s, was a new and burgeoning interest in the human psyche. It was hardly coincidence that his lectures were delivered in the same decade in which William James became Americas first professorial-level teacher of psychology (Harvard in 1875) and G. Stanley Hall the countrys first PhD in psychology. Unwittingly no doubt, Brooks reflected on novel intellectual ideas of his own day and, in doing so, identified within preaching practice what was to become a major preoccupation in many areas of discourse in the twentieth-century: namely, the human psyche and its relationship to action and truth. It is pertinent, therefore, to examine what Brooks understood by personality and its relationship to Christian truth in order to appreciate how his ideas were developed by homiletic practitioners in the period under review. What might appropriately be termed personalist (i.e. an emphasis in preaching on the personal religious experience of the hearer somehow addressed very directly by the preacher) has been, and continues to be, a major component in sermon delivery and design. Brooks concept of preaching as truth through personality became a kind of slogan for many preachers in the twentieth-century, and indeed remains a very influential mantra for many practitioners to this day. In Brooks lectures that sloganized thought had a rather more nuanced definition: Preaching is the communication of truth by man to men. It has in it two essential elements, truth and personality. Neither of those can it spare and still be preaching. The truest truth, the most authoritative statement of Gods, communicated in any other way than through the personality of brother man to men is not preached truth. Suppose it written on the sky, suppose it embodied in a book which has been so long held in reverence as the direct utterance of God that the vivid personality of the men who wrote its pages has well-nigh faded out of it; in neither of these cases is there any preaching. And on the other hand, if men speak to other men that which they do not claim for truth, if they use their powers of persuasion or of entertainment to make other men listen to their speculations, or do their will, or applaud their cleverness, that is not preaching either. The first lacks personality. The second lacks truth. And preaching is the bringing of truth through personality. (1904: 5) For Brooks, the two components of truth and personality had to stand together, since their meeting was the point at which the universal and the particular met. It would be an exaggeration to say that Brooks viewed religious truth as essentially something that can only be known in personal experience; but he did believe that truth was at its most effective and powerful when known and expressed in personal terms. He understood the truth of the Christian faith to be universal and invariable, with personality as the site where it was realized through variable and particular understanding and appropriation (1904: 15). Thus although he was clear gospel truth was a message to be transmitted, he insisted that it could only be transmitted via the voice of a witness, i.e. someone for whom it had become an indispensable part of that persons own experience (14). In terms of memory maintenance, Brooks approach assumes that the preacher is deeply cognizant of the Christian tradition and is, as it were, a bearer of it in his or her own person. 5.2.1 The personal characteristics of the preacher. Being such a bearer of the tradition required of the preacher exacting personal characteristics. The rigour Brooks brought to the personal qualities required of the preaching witness continues to be challenging reading for anyone pursuing such a role. Alongside a deep personal piety (1904: 38), Brooks listed mental and spiritual unselfishness (39), hopefulness as against judgmental fear (40), a vigorous commitment to physical health along with the offering of the whole of life in ministerial service (40), and an enthusiasm that made for a keen joy in preaching (42). Brooks saw the task of preaching as always needing an essential grounding in the very personhood of the preacher, by which he meant truth communicated through personality in an absolutely literal sense. The second of his Lyman Beecher Lectures, entitled The Preacher Himself, amplified the point in this enumeration of the qualities necessary for success in preaching: purity and uprightness of character; lack of self-consciousness founded on absolute trust in God; genuine respect for those preached to; thorough enjoyment of the task; gravity of intent in all things; and courage to speak out (1904: 49-60). At first sight the list appears remote from more recent homiletic theorys concern with techniques and philosophical issues, and therefore it might appear as less accessible and relevant to practitioners since the 1950s watershed in preaching identified earlier. Such personal qualities can seem to be more easily related to an era when the person of the preacher was regarded as carrying more authority than nowadays. Although in terms of wider social recognition the preacher is no longer a star of oratory, similar attributes are still sought after-but for rather different reasons. Killinger (1985), for example, stresses the importance of the physical and mental health of the preacher as an aspect of communication, since troubles in those areas are signalled subconsciously to an audience and work towards undermining the intended message. He writes: Suppose we are preaching about wholeness and reconciliation but actually conveying a message about fragmentedness and despondency. The words may sound right, but there is something about the tune, about the look in our eyes, about the tension in our faces, that counters what we are saying. At best, people get a double message. It is very important, therefore, for the preacher to be as healthy and joyous as possible. Anything less impedes his or her message about the life-giving community of God. We are working at our preaching, for this reason, even when we are taking care of ourselves. (1985: 198-199) Although the point is expressed in the idiom of late twentieth-century communications theory the reasoning is clearly akin to that of Brooks. For both, emphasis on the physicality of the preacher is an aspect of how the message will be received in the light of how the hearers perceptions of the speaker. The body of the preacher, as well as his or her mental and spiritual capabilities, is, in this sense, a tool in the preaching witness. Contemporary women homileticians have also emphasized physicality; but from a perspective that radicalizes it by making the woman preachers bodily experience a site of homiletic resource. In Walton and Durber (1994), the negative, indeed destructive, consequences of a profound prejudice in the Christian tradition against womens bodies are highlighted. They note that in the light of this shameful history and despite occasional counter-tradition movements, the advent of more widespread preaching by women with the rise of Nonconformity did not generally challenge the unembodied nature of homiletic practice. Until the rise of the Womens Movement, women preachers, like their male counterparts, stressed a common rationality and a universal human nature that was blind to the particularities of embodied experience (Walton and Durber, 1994: 2). In more recent years, however, some women homileticians have striven to speak from their bodily experience and utilize both the negative and positive aspects of femininity, conception, pregnancy, birth, health and nurture in their theology of preaching (for example, Ward, Wild and Morley, (1995); Gjerding and Kinnamon, (1984); Riley, (1985); By Our Lives, (1985); Maitland, (1995); and Marva Dawn in Graves, (2004)). According to Walton and Durber, such efforts are part of a new emphasis that is fuelling developments across the whole spectrum of theological enquiry. They write: Sexuality and suffering are still rarely named within a Christian tradition that prefers to speak of the spirit rather than the body, light rather than darkness and a God who creates life but bears no responsibility for pain and dying. Women who have begun to preach from their bodies are not merely redressing an existing imbalance and enriching the storehouse of Christian metaphors and symbols but are also provoking new theological debates close to the very heart of the faith. (1994: 4) This emphasis on the body as a resource for preaching content rather than solely the necessary vehicle of delivery as it were, certainly takes Brooks focus on personhood further than he could possibly have imagined. That said, even here there is a certain congruence between what Brooks said and these very contemporary concerns. He did, after all, insist that the needs and preoccupations of no one sex or age should monopolize the life of the congregation, and that ministrations to it must be full at once of vigour and of tenderness, the fathers and the mothers touch at once (1904: 207). Brooks could not have possibly foreseen the Womens Movement and its repercussions for preaching, but his unease with a domineering and authoritarian style in the pulpit-mediated through his lasting influence-at least readied some preachers for a message that needed to be heard. The physical and personal qualities of the practitioner described neither in terms of communication theory nor embodied theology, but in ways even more reminiscent of Brooks own characterization of the preacher, have reasserted themselves through organization theory and the study of leadership. As the authority of the church, in terms of rules and obligations, has ebbed away, and the legitimacy of power based on tradition more and more questioned, it is perhaps the case that authority based on exemplary character has increased in relative importance. Certainly in the world of commerce and business the significance of the personal qualities of leaders and managers has been extensively theorized and debated. In the use of terms such as sapiential authority and referent power, organization theorists have pointed up the crucial importance of a personal knowledge and skill that readily communicates itself to others, and a personality-based ability to influence by attracting loyalty (Rees and Porter, 2001: 82). Other theorists, e.g. Charles Handy, talk in terms of the invisible but felt pull that is described as magnetism (1985: 135). Handy writes: Aspects of magnetism, the unseen drawing-power of one individual, are found all the time. Trust, respect, charm, infectious enthusiasm, these attributes all allow us to influence people without apparently imposing on them. The invisibility of magnetism is a major attraction as is its attachment to one individual. (1985: 136) Brooks himself used the very term magnetism and described it as: the quality that kindles at the sight of men, that feels a keen joy at the meeting of truth and the human mind, and recognizes how God made them for each other. It is the power by which a man loses himself and becomes but the sympathetic atmosphere between the truth on one side of him and the man on the other side of him. (1904: 42) Excluding the gender specificity, Handy might have written in very similar terms. (Comparable thoughts, although using other nomenclature, can also be found, for example in Schein, 1992: 229; Zohar and Marshall, 2000: 259; and Nelson, 1999: 76). The significance of the personal charisma of the preacher is, perhaps, in the process of rehabilitation via business practices that readily recognize the importance of personal as well as systemic qualities in the effective functioning of organizations. With the support of such an appreciation, a contemporary homiletician, such as Day, can assert, without risking suspicion and disapprobation, that the hope of the sermon lies in the authenticity of the preacher (1998: 147). As regards the maintenance of tradition as collective memory, the resurgence of individualized authority raises the question whether organizational structures within the churches are strong enough to prevent intentional or unintentional abuse of that corporate memory bearin g responsibility. 5.2.2 The preacher as learner and as pastor. Before leaving issues associated with personhood, two of Brooks themes regarding the preachers actions are worth considering since, again, they are things that continue to be widely discussed in the literature; namely, the preacher as learner and the preacher as pastor. After considering the dangers to the preachers personality of self-conceit, over-concern with failure, self-indulgence, and narrowness, Brooks brings his second lecture to a close with a vigorous plea for what would now be called lifelong learning. He writes: In [Christian ministry] he who is faithful must go on learning more and more for ever. His growth in learning is all bound up with his growth in character. Nowhere else do the moral and intellectual so sympathize, and lose or gain together. The minister must grow. His true growth is not necessarily a change of views. It is a change of view. It is not revolution. It is progress. It is a continual climbing which opens continually wider prospects. It repeats the experience of Christs disciples, of whom their Lord was always making larger men and then giving them larger truth of which their enlarged natures had become capable. (1904: 70) What Brooks discerned as an essential component of the preachers disposition has nowadays been widened to embrace all who claim to be faithful believers. Discipleship as lifelong learning is a concept in wide contemporary currency in the churches, and is discussed, for example, in documents such as the published strategies of the Church of England, the Methodist Church and the United Reformed Church for training, detailed in the reports Formation for Ministry within a Learning Church (2003) and Shaping the Future: New patterns of training for lay and ordained (2006). The notion of Christian leaders needing to be exemplars in this ongoing commitment to learning and personal growth figures in much of the literature on congregations and pastoral ministry, such as Mead (1994), Baumohl (1984), Hawkins (1997), and Anderson (1997); albeit these and numerous other authors, make it plain that the goal of such action is the enhancement of learning in the whole church. In the preaching literatu re, allied perspectives are expressed in such concepts as local theology (Tisdale, 1997), conversational preaching (Rose, 1997), listening to or with sermon preparation (Van Harn, 2005), embodying the scriptures communally (Davis and Hays, 2003), and interactive preaching (Hunter, 2004). Through these and other mechanisms, Brooks call for continuous learning on the part of the preacher finds its contemporary expression in practices that aim to widen that learning to include the whole body of people who are party to the sermon and the preachers and their own wider ministry. As Anderson puts it, every act of ministry teaches something about God (1997: 8). That is a sentiment to which Brooks would have been sympathetic given his emphasis on the absolute core of preaching as the widest of concern for souls. Learning, in collective memory theory, is often associated with the changing of the meanings and understandings of memories, and the processes by which traditions are appropriated by individuals. As aspects of learning clearly related to relationships they echo contemporary concern in the church about whole body learning. In Brooks description of the preacher as pastor this analysis reaches very familiar territory, in that such a description probably remains the pre-eminent designation of the homiletician within the churches. Brooks thought on this matter was absolutely unequivocal: The preacher needs to be pastor, that he may preach to real men. The pastor must be preacher, that he may keep the dignity of his work alive. The preacher, who is not a pastor, grows remote. The pastor, who is not a preacher, grows petty. Never be content to let men truthfully say of you, He is a preacher, but no pastor; or, He is a pastor, but no preacher. Be both; for you cannot really be one unless you also are the other. (1904: 77) The conviction remains no less powerful more than a century after Brooks lectures: for example, Eric Devenport writing in 1986 could assert, without fear that his opinion would be controversial: Preaching and pastoral work go hand in hand. This is one of those truths that has to be proclaimed time after time, for unless it is heard, then most preaching will not only be dull but dead. (in Hunter, 2004: 145) Clearly, at different times and in different church structures, the nature of pastoral practice has been viewed in a variety of ways. Sometimes it has been mutual support in discipleship, and at other times psychotherapeutic intervention. In some circumstances it has been ad hoc care and conversation, and in others programmatic structures of community creation. Amongst these and many other activities, those who would preach have frequently seen such pastoral practice as a fundamental adjunct to the homiletic task. Although the influence of the problem centred preaching method of Henry Emerson Fosdick, mentioned above (section 2.5), has waned in recent decades, the notion that preaching must somehow relate to the felt life-concerns of those in the congregation is still the key to good practice for many preachers. Whether the emphasis is Tisdales (1997) preacher as the caretaker of local theology, Willimons (1979) or Longs (1989) straightforward emphasis on the role of pastor, Pasquare llos (2005) preaching as the development of communal wisdom, Buechners (1977) telling the truth in love, or Van Harns (2005) insistence on listening in preaching, the overarching perspective is that of pastoral care to individuals and groups. The tradition as collective memory must, in these circumstances, serve pastoral needs. Here the link to the presentist character of collective memory appears strong. 5.2.3 Preachings first purpose and the style appropriate to it. Returning to the issue of preaching as art. From Brooks paramount concern with personhood and themes that flow from it, this discussion now turns to two other aspects of his lectures that remain significant concerns in homiletic literature: style of language, and preachings first purpose. In his emphasis on preaching as witness, Brooks made a distinction that continues to figure prominently in homiletic texts to this day: namely, the difference between preaching about Christ and preaching Christ (1904: 20). Preachers, Brooks insisted, should announce Christianity as a message and proclaim Christ as a Saviour not-discuss Christianity as a problem (1904: 21). He asserted: Definers and defenders of the faith are always needed, but it is bad for a church when its ministers count it their true work to define and defend the faith rather than to preach the Gospel. Beware of the tendency to preach about Christianity, and try to preach Christ. (1904: 21) This distinction continues to be vigorously promoted, particularly amongst the New Homiletic advocates of an inductive sermon methodology. From the distinction there comes an emphasis in sermonic style on a demonstrably engaging, emotionally affective, and inclusivist presentation, rather than a detached, analytical or objective stance. Brooks would have undoubtedly concurred with David Bartletts worries about sermon style that appears to make sin more interesting than grace, and evil more lively than goodness (in Graves, 2004: 25). Bartlett suggests that sermons too often misdirect their hearers by putting active or abstract language and thoughts in the wrong places. He writes, For the most part we show evil and then tell about goodness. We show judgment and then talk about the doctrine of mercy (in Graves, 2004: 25). Yet again, Brooks lectures were extraordinary prescient of a concern that has become commonplace these many years later. Likewise, Brooks conviction that a sermon is essentially a tool and not an end in itself is also a perspective that continues to be vigorously debated (Brooks, 1904: 110). Unlike Browne (1958), Brooks was insistent that preaching is not an art form. He wrote: The definition and immediate purpose which a sermon has set before it makes it impossible to consider it as a work of art, and every attempt to consider it so works injury to the purpose for which the sermon was created. Many of the ineffective sermons that are made owe their failure to a blind and fruitless effort to produce something which shall be a work of art, conforming to some type or pattern which is not clearly understood but is supposed to be essential and eternal. (1904: 109) In many ways, Brownes advocacy of the sermon as art-form (1958: 76) was a reaction to those who had taken Brooks evident pragmatism and utilitarianism as regards technique and turned it into a bald instructionalism that claimed too much for itself and was simply tedious. That was not Brooks intention, however, as his aim was an absolute focus on the tumultuous eagerness of earnest purpose (1904: 110). His overriding concern was that sermons should engage and communicate in such a way as to affect and mark personalities at their most profound level. As such, his understanding of the nature of sermonic engagement serves the purposes of collective memory. His objection to preaching as an art-form was the tendency he saw for art to be an end in itself-over concerned with pure forms and the abstractions of principles (see, for example, pages 110 and 267 of the 1904 edition). These many years later, art operates, and is applied within immensely diverse environments wholly unknown when Brooks lectured: so his criticism is, perhaps, no longer apposite. On the other hand, how far and in what ways artistic expression relates to and uses tradition is a question rather more vexed now than in Brooks day. The one aspect of artistic endeavour Brooks was willing to concede was art in the sense of an awesome appreciation of the mysteriousness of life. This was something Brooks regarded as an essential component of the preachers outlook, and was the reason for his advocacy of the preacher as, at least in some measure, a poet (1904: 262). Preaching as art form brings to the forefront of homiletic awareness the sermons place in the imaginative construal of engaging gospel alternatives to commonplace understandings and outlooks. Collective memory theory suggests that affiliation to group identity is an essential element in the continuity of memory. What the emphasis on preaching as art form does is alert the preacher to the need to create in preaching that sense of engagement, creativity and exploration that aims beyond utilitarian instruction. Here, preaching is seen as genuinely performative. Like the repeated performances of a classic drama, a sermon hearer can become intensively engaged again and again with material that, although familiar, becomes in the engagement surprisingly new. Likewise the preacher as performer or artist, works with familiar texts in order to render then creatively new in a sermon. From both sides of the sermon event collective memory is supported via the performative interaction. The discussion of art related issues in contemporary homiletic literature largely supports this assessment. Morris, in his Raising the Dead: The Art of the preacher as Public Performer, makes performance the guiding principle of all homiletics and insists that preaching should delight and enrich in ways similar to other mediums (1996: 19). Gilmore, in his Preaching as Theatre (1996) shares the same concern with performance, and designates preaching as a dramatic event that happens. He writes: As long as preaching is seen as lecturing or teaching, then, in order for it to be effective, listeners have to go away and do something about it. If it is art, they dont. By the time it is over something has happened, or has failed to happen. This is what makes preaching as an art distinctive, more exciting and satisfying when it works, more depressing and worrying when it doesnt. (1996: 7) Other homileticians are a little more reserved and tend to use the idea of art or artistic endeavour as but one tool the preacher can employ. For example, in Allen (1998), the appreciation of works of art and artistic frames for sermons are advocated as ways to create spheres of perception i