How can preachers ensure that their sermons continue to engage listeners in a world defined by visual media and the short, segmented delivery of information? Alyce McKenzie harnesses the element of drama and the human fascination with scenes to offer ministers a modern means of sermon development and delivery.
McKenzie�s core strategy is to invite listeners into scenes—whether from Scripture or contemporary life—and, once they are there, to point them toward the larger story of God�s relationship with humankind. Creating such scenes unifies the whole process of preaching, she says, from the preacher�s daily life observations to interpretation of scenes from Scripture, to sermon shaping, sequencing, and delivery. The process culminates in a specific understanding of the purpose of the sermon: to send listeners out into the scenes they�ll play in their lives for the next week, equipped to act out their parts in ways that are kinder, more just, and more courageous than last week.
