Hi, I need help with essay on Black Preaching: The Recovery of a Powerful Art, by Henry Mitchell. Paper must be at least 1000 words. Please, no plagiarized work!Religion has been a vital part of our l

Hi, I need help with essay on Black Preaching: The Recovery of a Powerful Art, by Henry Mitchell. Paper must be at least 1000 words. Please, no plagiarized work!

Religion has been a vital part of our lives. Recent times have seen the cropping up of quite a number of churches, this demonstrates dynamism in religion. In the same way, the manner of delivering sermons or preaching has undergone many changes. One thing that you will acknowledge is that while there is no uniformity in the manner of preaching, there are certain elements of delivering sermons that are unique to particular groups of people. In essence, there are variations in the manner of preaching, not only within particular groups but also between groups. Certain methods of preaching are attributable to specific groups of people. Henry Mitchell addresses this disparity in the book “Black Preaching: The Recovery of a Powerful Art”. Mitchell specifically takes interest in the Black culture and the style of preaching, convincingly demonstrating that they are important in empowering the black congregations. He points out that they have much more to offer to the preaching methods used by all preachers. The book concentrates on the use of imagination, storytelling and the preaching style that is rooted in the African American culture, thereby spotlighting the techniques that would be effective in lively preaching. The book aims at exploring preaching not in theory, but rather in practice and in the specific aspect of difference in black preaching. Mitchell defines black preaching as using a medium of tonality and imagery as a way of enhancing the message. He states that this would not downgrade its quality, instead, it would upgrade its effectiveness. Mitchell states that people are not saved by intellectually impressive, exciting, and stimulating ideas, but rather, by faith, which essentially does not constitute an idea. He states that faith does not reside in cognition, but rather, in intuition. otherwise, the smartest individuals would have higher likelihood of being saved. In this case, impressive sermons would only do just that - impress, but not get people saved. The book insinuates that a sermon is supposed to be designed in such a way that it generates an experiential encounter. Henry Mitchell states that for an individual to experience a particular thing, an image that the individual can identify with has to be generated, thereby allowing for a vicarious participation. In this case, imagery would be a way of getting the congregation on board, in which case by the time the story ends, the congregation would have been identified with it, thereby leading them to salvation. Mitchell states that since time immemorial, black preaching has incorporated the use of narratives. He draws a distinction from the narrative preaching that the western circles talk of by stating that it concentrates on cognition or explanation. While he acknowledges that explanation is vital, he explains that good explanation of truth is less important than the intensity of its impact, as well as how much it is used by the Holy Spirit to save people. Mitchell also says that black preaching is characterized by dialogue where he states “proclamation with power requires dialogue”. In essence, participation would come about in the people’s attitude, since faith is caught rather than taught. He insinuates that deeply spiritual individuals would radiate a certain form of influence that would draw everyone else to the spirituality. The absence of congregational response would render the sermon impossible. However, the response would have to be spontaneous, since the congregation would participate in the extent to which they are irresistibly drawn to powerful encounter experience. The author emphasizes the need to deliver sermons in mother tongue. This is because language communicates much more than mere words. Language establishes identity. By identifying with you, they would trust you therefore hear you. Connecting with the audience would only be achieved through language.