“If churches saw their mission in the same way, there is no telling what might happen. What if people were invited to come tell what they already know of God instead of to learn what they are supposed to believe? What if they were blessed for what they are doing in the world instead of chastened for not doing more at church? What if church felt more like a way station than a destination? What if the church’s job were to move people out the door instead of trying to keep them in, by convincing them that God needed them more in the world than in the church?” ― Barbara Brown Taylor, Leaving Church: A Memoir of Faith
What does it mean to preach in the 21st century as institutional vitality and notions of authority and expertise continually shift and change? In this course, students will explore the sacramentality of preaching, prepare a sermon for Holy Week, and preach that sermon in their parish. Through online conversations, course reading, brief writings, and sermon evaluation, we will begin to answer such questions as “What is a sacramentality of preaching?” “What is an Anglican theology of preaching?” and “Who am I to preach?”
Instructor: Rev. Tripp Hudgins is an ordained baptist minister who has made the journey of returning to the Episcopal Church. He taught Homiletics at CDSP as both the Bogard Scholar and an adjunct instructor. He holds degrees from University of Richmond (‘92 BA, Religion), Seabury-Western (‘04 MDiv, MTS, Liturgics), and Graduate Theological Union (‘23, MA, Liturgy, Ethnomusicology). Tripp is a native of Virginia currently living in Richmond with his wife and their son. He can be found working as a hospice chaplain, teaching, preaching, and making music. He is currently seeking ordination in the Episcopal Church and serves on the Vestry of St. James the Less in Ashland, VA.