Determining the Form : Structures for Preaching(Paperback) - 2008 Edition

by O. Wesley Allen Jr.

This fifth title in the Elements of Preaching series offers preaching students and clergy an overview of some of the most common sermonic forms and provides insights for determining which forms are most - and least - amenable to the claim that they want to make in their sermon. Many, if not most, sermons wind up being somewhat formless and thus less effective than they might be in communicating the gospel. Rather than training students in a single rhetorical form, this volume will demonstrate a variety of options without advocating for any particular form. Accomplished preachers can think of rhetorical strategy in a nuanced manner, but beginning preachers are well-served by having a knapsack of simple sermonic forms they can turn to when building a sermon out of a sermonic claim. This book will offer preachers a strong foundation in considering sermonic form and a handful of basic, reliable rhetorical structures to use in the pulpit.

Paperback

First published October 1, 2008

Reviews

[Hannah Jones-Nelson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best concise overview of sermon forms I've read

[Michael Summers · Rating 3 out of 5]

I appreciated Allen's simple graphics and his use of a single sermon text to illustrate diverse forms for presenting sermons. His section on verse by verse combined textual and expository forms in a way that he struggled (in my opinion) to explain well. He reminded readers to treat fairly social issue positions that audience members might differ from the preacher on, but himself disparaged in passing a couple of positions while working through the various sermon forms. Overall, a simple and helpful overview of how to get out of a rut in one's preaching style.

[Janet Daniels · Rating 5 out of 5]

A niche book for sure is "Determining the Form". But, it is compact, concise, and brimming with detail and example for neophytes to this preaching life.

[Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a very informative book. It made me realize that I was not putting enough focus on the shape of my sermon, just writing whatever came to mind. This is certain to make me a better preacher.

[Nikki Young · Rating 4 out of 5]

I appreciated the diagrams and that it was a fast read. Also liked the case studies that showed one text presented in all forms.

[Jordan Kinsey · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don’t remember the last time I’ve highlighted so many lines in a book.

[George · Rating 4 out of 5]

Helpful arrows for the preaching quiver. A good overview of basic structure.

[Geoff · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is intended to introduce beginning preachers to the various forms or structures that a sermon can take. It achieved this purpose admirably. It was clear, concise and used diagrams (which I appreciated!). It also provided an explanation of how the structure could be applied to a single passage. The author chose to use 1 Kings 19 throughout the book so the different structures could be compared against the same passage. In all of this I though the book was helpful and well-designed.

Let me list the various forms/structures it considered:
+ Propositional Lesson Sermons
+ Exegesis-Interpretation-Application Sermons
+ Verse-by-verse Sermons
+ The Four Pages Sermon
+ Valley Sermons
+ New Hearing Sermons
+ Negative to Positive Sermons

Now, let me offer a critique. Firstly, the author comes from a very different theological background to me. I was surprised at how closely he stuck to Scripture, considering a few examples of preaching I've heard from others from a similar background. He really did try to determine the passage's big idea (and did so quite accurately, in my humble opinion) and then figure out the application for his setting (which I disagreed with somewhat).

One of the things that prickled me was his determination to be (in my opinion) overly politically correct. He constantly referred to the preacher as "she" (rather than a gender inclusive term) and wrote about God referring to God-self (rather than "Himself") which is just a bit too try-hard for my liking.

Also, although his big idea was related to our call as followers of Jesus to engage with the world rather than develop a fortress mentality in our churches, his applications were everything but actually sharing the gospel (verbally) with people.

Finally, a comment he made in one chapter as a mistake a preacher made was to report the good news rather than enthuse about it. (The problem was so overwhelming that the solution wasn't presented with the same emotional power). I felt like his sermon examples fell into the same trap. They described how the sermon on 1 Kings 19 could be structured but left one feeling like we could have been moved rather than being moved by what he wrote. A devotional approach to this section of each chapter may have been more helpful. It left me wondering how powerful a preacher this author really was in practice.

[Daniel · Rating 5 out of 5]

A nice quick and practical look at some popular structures of preaching. The only one that was not talked about was the story sermon. I love the used of flow charts and the use of outlining how each form would be used to preach the story when Elijah hears the still small voice. I was familiar with the majority of the forms before but the focus on how they are practically used was helpful. With the small length I was yearning for more chapters such as more advice on which form should be selected on a given text. I am considering reading more books from this series on preaching from Augsburg Fortress.

[Clint Boyd · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was the first practical book I read on preaching, and it helped me realize the value of various forms. I still value expository sermons, but I am now seeing the worth of various other forms as well. Great little volume and probably helpful for refreshing even an experienced preacher's approach.

[Doug Browne · Rating 3 out of 5]

What was there was good; I was a bit disappointed by how few forms the author considered.