In this little article, I mention five resources that strike me as useful for sermon preparation. I summarize just enough of the content (I hope) to help you decide whether you would like to order these materials.
Crisis Preaching: Personal and Public
The most important book for occasions such as 9/11 is Joseph R. Jeter, Jr., Crisis Preaching: Personal and Public (Abingdon Press, 1998). Jeter is one of the most respected preachers in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and a noted scholar of preaching at Brite Divinity School. Although the immediate crisis surrounding 9/11 has passed, many of the dynamics and themes that Jeter discusses can be adapted to the first year anniversary.
Jeter first distinguishes different types of crisis and their psychological qualities, then considers the theology of the crisis experience. For the crisis of understanding (which is a key element in many congregations' response to 9/11), it is important to help the congregation remember, be aware of divine and human presence, and of divine promise. For the crisis of decision (and 9/11 does call for personal and corporate decisions), it is important to help the congregation determine whether it is time to go on, to go around, to go back, to go up, to go down, or to be still. Jeter has a practical section on worship (as sanctuary, as familiar, as help, as witness, and as prayer).
A pivotal chapter highlights possible strategies for the sermon: determining whether a crisis exists, lamenting the situation in a creative way (superb), circling the wagons, calling attention to positive continuities before and after the crisis, and evoking courage. A brief but wise chapter meditates on the structure/genre/movement of the sermon for the situation in crisis. Jeter recognizes values in the ABC structure adapted from pastoral counseling (achieving contact, boiling the crisis down to its essentials, and coping actively with the issues), and in the "hourglass" sermon that begins with an inductive consideration of the experience of the situation and moves to a deductive theological reflection on it. However, Jeter recognizes that the many layers of meaning, in a situation sometimes call for preaching structures that transcend such conventional and linear approaches. Preachers must sometimes help the congregation live in the tensions between several different perspectives.
An immensely practical part of the book catalogues biblical and theological resources to which a preacher may turn for different kinds of crises: natural disasters (wind and water, drought, earthquake, fire); dramatic physical events such as as explosions or collapse (buildings, dams, bridges), diseases and epidemics, political crises (terrorism, civil violence, war, assassination, murder,). The author focuses on congregational crises-local tragedies, discord and conflict in the community, scandal and financial distress-as well as on personal crises (loss of employment, family problems such as illness or divorce or death, loss of faith, or depression). Five fully annotated sermons from local pastors (none of them are Jeter's) end the volume. It is available for $15.00 from The Bookstore at Christian Theological Seminary (1-800-931-2377, on the web at www.cts.edu/bookstore/bookstoreorder.html or callen@cts.edu).
In Times of Crisis and Sorrow: A Minister's Resource Guide
Carol M. Norén offers a resource more broadly attuned to ministry at the time of death but that contains sections that focus on public tragedy in her In Times of Crisis and Sorrow: A Minister's Manual Resource Guide (Jossey Bass. 2001).
Norén begins with a helpful meditation on ministry in difficult times, and then develops an understanding of ministry for seasons of crisis and sorrow. While she gives more attention to bereavement than to other forms of crisis, many of her insights can be adapted easily to the penumbra of feelings around 9/11 (loss, helplessness, fear, urge for revenge, etc.). She lays theological foundations concentrating on implications from the great ecumenical affirmations of faith for loss-the centrality of Christ, the liminal time after death, the coming judgment, the communion of saints, and the life everlasting.
A chapter analyzes how services around such occasion should be genuine Christian worship, should help the community discern the presence and purposes of God, and should facilitate mutual pastoral care. These suggestions emerge from a brief history of funeral practices. Norén offers much wise counsel for pastoral care at the time of death-e.g., networking with other clergy, calling on the mourners. While such suggestions may seem more suited to an individual funeral than to a massive public event such as commemoration of 9/11, pastors may well find that speaking with other clergy and talking individually with parishioners may provide key insight into what the local congregation is thinking and feeling in regard to 9/11. A chapter details the funeral service and the memorial service, and, again, while services for 9/11fall into different categories, key insights can be adapted, and Norén puts forward specific suggestions for dealing with reports-who may show up for 9/11 events (p. 59).
One of the most direct connections between this book and 9/11 is in the fourth chapter where the author offers suggestions for four different kinds of liturgical events-for the Sunday immediately afterwards in the congregation, for the ecumenical service, the community interfaith service, and the anniversary or commemorative service. For the latter, she lays out a possible order of service and lists questions and issues that preachers and worship planners can take into account (e.g., Is the Word of God speaking to the situation or does the occasion use Scripture as a footnote for another canon being proclaimed?) (pp. 70-71). Norén cautions against "sociopolitical paraliturgies."
A chapter whose themes may need to be adapted for 9/11 pertains to pastoral care with individuals, the congregation as community of pastoral care, and the importance of self-care for the pastor. Most of the rest of the book is made up of sample sermons and worship materials-sermons for particular kinds of deaths, scripture-centered messages, lectionary-based homilies that deal with tragedy and bereavement, sermons from the Sunday service in a time of crisis, and eight sermons "for times of crisis" that provide direct models for 9/11 preaching. There are also sermon illustrations and poetry, as well as worship resources such as opening sentences, possible Bible readings, opening prayers, benedictions, pastoral prayers, and music. This book is available for $ 24.95 from The Bookstore at Christian Theological Seminary (1-800-931-2377, on the web at www.cts.edu/bookstore/bookstoreorder.html or callen@cts.edu).
Shaken Foundations: Sermons from America's Pulpits after the Terrorist Attacks
In Shaken Foundations: Sermons from America's Pulpits after the Terrorist Attacks I, edited by David P Polk (Chalice Press, 2002), the editor brings together twenty-one sermons preached soon after 9/11. Some of the sermons come from New York City itself and others from around the country. The editor characterizes the collection as "words of solace, healing, compassion, and even confrontation with evil, words that pierced the veil of darkness in those first days after the attacks and that minister to us as we still struggle for answers." Shaken Foundations is available at $ 15.99. All the royalties on this book go to the Domestic Terrorism Appeal of Church World Service.
Preachers may also be interested in sermons that were published in response to the destruction of the Murrah Federal Office Building in Oklahoma City, And The Angels Wept: From the Pulpits of Oklahoma City after the Bombing, edited by Marsha Brock Bishop and David P. Polk (Chalice Press) at $ 15.00, as well as sermons after the uprising in Los Angeles, Dreams of Fire/Embers of Hope, edited by Ignacio Castuera (Chalice Press) at $ 10.99. These books can be ordered from Chalice Press at1-800-366-3383, at www.chalicpress.com or through customerservice@cbp21.com. It is also available from The Bookstore at Christian Theological Seminary at the addresses above.
Strike Terror No More: Theology, Ethics, and the New War
A remarkable resource for theological reflection that would feed a single sermon, a series of sermons, or a discussion group is Strike Terror No More: Theology, Ethics and the New War, edited by Jon L. Berquist (Chalice Press, 2002).
This book collects short, pithy essays from thirty-eight biblical scholars, theologians, and ethicists from Judaism and Christianity to ponder the implications of Psalm 10:17-18 in view of September 11. "O Lord you will hear the desire of the meek; you will strengthen their heart... so that those from earth may strike terror no more." In a thoughtful editorial introduction, Berquist asks, "Who are the meek, and how will God protect them from terror?" The answer is that divine protection can be mediated in partnership with the human community thinking afresh about justice, peace, war, and their interrelationship.
This anthology is similar to a round-table discussion in which each author makes a concise contribution. The collection is divided into five parts; each part could be the basis of a sermon in a series on sermons on this theme. The parts are: causes of the events leading to September 11; insights from apocalyptic tradition in Judaism and Christianity; reflections from the world of systematic theology; evaluation of the "just war" tradition; and implications for life and faith after September 11. The contributors include Walter Brueggemann, Tony Campolo, Ariel Dorfman, Jean Bethke Elshtain, Stanley Hauerwas, Martin Marty, Fumitaka Matsuoka, Ron Sider, Max Stackhouse, Marjorie Hewitt Suchocki, and Walter Wink. I hate remarks like the one I am about to make, but the epigrammatic nature of these essays makes them highly quotable. This volume is available at $ 29.99 from Chalice Press at1-800-366-3383, at www.chalicpress.com or through customerservice@cbp21.com. It is also available from The Bookstore at Christian Theological Seminary at the addresses above.
Preaching God's Compassion
Although not directly related to September 11 or to crisis preaching, LeRoy Aden and Robert Hughes (professor and president, respectively, at Lutheran Theological Seminary in Philadelphia) provide useful resources in their Preaching God's Compassion. Fortress Resources for Preaching (Fortress Press, 2002).
Their book directly speaks to preaching in the presence of people who are suffering. They begin with an existential description of the phenomenon of suffering, and of how people struggle with suffering (e.g., "Where is God in relationship to suffering? Why do we suffer?) and with resources for preaching on suffering that range from baptism to the Bible. The authors review how the church has tried to interpret suffering through the mode of pastoral preaching (highlighting Fosdick, the positive preachers such as Peale and Schuller, and the contemporary work of Donald Capps and Randall Nichols).
These writers make several suggestions for pastoral response to persons who suffer, including proposing a sermon form that consists of describing the suffering and then giving the response of faith. Chapters then specifically address different kinds of suffering: the experience of loss, illness, the experience of violence (especially meaningful as the preacher looks towards 9/11), fear, and failure. The book concludes with examples of pastoral preaching on these themes.
In the chapter on preaching to persons who experience violence, Aden and Hughes counsel preachers to take account of the fact that at such times, people feel descrated, exposed, powerless, angry, and often feel guilty. The preacher needs to voice the pain of desecrated persons and interpret their situation from the perspective of the gospel of a God who suffers with them and who offers a way forward to break the vicious cycle of desecration, exposure, etc. This book is available from It is available for $18.00 from The Bookstore at Christian Theological Seminary (1-800-931-2377, on the web at www.cts.edu/bookstore/bookstoreorder.html or callen@cts.edu).