Jerusha Matsen Neal

Ph.D. Thesis.  A work of homiletic theology, the thesis argues that Luke's account of Mary's labor in bearing the Christ child is a performative metaphor for the relationship between Spirit, Word and bodily performance for pulpit.  The thesis draws on insights from performance theory, feminist critiques of rhetorical models and a sacramental theology of the proclaimed Word.

This article uses three touchstones of Calvin's understanding of the Spirit in sacramental practice to reflect on homiletic pedagogy. It describes practices of hospitality, dependence and discernment in an exegetical “field journal” for the purpose of forming preachers in postures of Spirit-empowered faith. The field journal on which this article reflects can be accessed at: https://www.academia.edu/49222052/A_Textual_Field_Journal_for_Preaching .

Over the past 30 years, the effects of globalization, climate change and multiple military coups have reshaped the Fijian landscape. The “lines in the sand” around issues of land ownership, rising tides and Fijian identity have complicated the relationship between the Fijian Methodist Church and the land which grounds its culture. The historical fissures between the majority Methodist indigenous church and Fiji’s large Hindu population continue to place the rights of first peoples in tension with rights of ethnic and religious minorities, even as the country’s secular government stresses the possibility of harmony. In recent years, the church’s primary responses to these demographic, political and environmental changes have been homiletic and hermeneutic. In spite of declining membership and reduced political influence, the church’s present experience has been re-read as a “New Exodus” journey toward a promised land. This theme of “New Exodus” has become a dominant trope in sermons, church education events and Fijian Methodist self-understanding. A more complicated hermeneutic, however, mines the biblical theme of exile to describe the current situation. In iTaukei (indigenous Fijian) understanding, the ‘vanua,’ or land, connotes the traditional culture of those who live on that land. As change impacts the culture of indigenous village life, the land itself is understood to change. Though 80% of Fijian land is tribally held, many Fijian Methodists experience the land on which they have lived for generations as suddenly unfamiliar. My paper will explore these disparate biblical readings of the Fijian Methodist experience through a homiletic analysis of four Fijian sermons, pointing to the importance of pulpit rhetoric in creating new conceptions of place and direction in a world where familiar markers are washing away

This article reflects on the challenges and importance of extended, global homiletic conversations. Drawing on my experience as a Westerner teaching preaching in the Pacific, the article asserts the necessity of global homiletic conversation as a guard against hegemonic preaching practices and as a productive agent of cultural destabilization. This is particularly true when defining the contours of postcolonial preaching. By moving preaching into postures of Spirit-dependence similar to Mary’s dependence on the Spirit in Luke’s gospel, global homiletic conversation can facilitate sacramental performances of embodied relation between preachers, their changing communities, and Christ.

Ph.D. Thesis. A work of homiletic theology, the thesis argues that Luke's account of Mary's labor in bearing the Christ child is a performative metaphor for the relationship between Spirit, Word and bodily performance for pulpit. The thesis draws on insights from performance theory, feminist critiques of rhetorical models and a sacramental theology of the proclaimed Word.

This analysis of two Fijian Methodist sermons responding to climate catastrophe argues for the significance of preaching that emerges from displaced and occupied communities, particularly for Christianities shaped by Western colonialism. Not only do these testimonies call the Western church to repentance, they challenge the West’s over-eager cooption of “place” as a theological project. In their proclamation of ontological alternatives to Western political and epistemological sovereignties, these sermons call listeners—and preachers—to a radical relationality with the world and with God.

This field journal for preaching exegesis is a homiletic pedagogical exercise that weaves together a number of approaches and practices. This pre-sermon preparatory work lifts up the gifts of multiple homiletic schools in an attempt to balance text and gospel, ecclesial and extra-ecclesial contexts, individual creativity and collective need. In its current form, it is organized to strengthen interpretive postures of hospitality, dependency and discernment. It emphasizes the relationships between practices and carries through-lines of thought from one section to another.

Over the past 30 years, the effects of globalization, climate change and multiple military coups have reshaped the Fijian landscape. The " lines in the sand " around issues of land ownership, rising tides and Fijian identity have complicated the relationship between the Fijian Methodist Church and the land which grounds its culture. The historical fissures between the majority Methodist indigenous church and Fiji's large Hindu population continue to place the rights of first peoples in tension with rights of ethnic and religious minorities, even as the country's secular government stresses the possibility of harmony. In recent years, the church's primary responses to these demographic, political and environmental changes have been homiletic and hermeneutic. In spite of declining membership and reduced political influence, the church's present experience has been re-read as a " New Exodus " journey toward a promised land. This theme of " New Exodus " has become a dominant trope in sermons, church education events and Fijian Methodist self-understanding. A more complicated hermeneutic, however, mines the biblical theme of exile to describe the current situation. In iTaukei (indigenous Fijian) understanding, the 'vanua,' or land, connotes the traditional culture of those who live on that land. As change impacts the culture of indigenous village life, the land itself is understood to change. Though 80% of Fijian land is tribally held, many Fijian Methodists experience the land on which they have lived for generations as suddenly unfamiliar. My paper will explore these disparate biblical readings of the Fijian Methodist experience through a homiletic analysis of four Fijian sermons, pointing to the importance of pulpit rhetoric in creating new conceptions of place and direction in a world where familiar markers are washing away.

This article reflects on the challenges and importance of extended, global homiletic conversations. Drawing on my experience as a Westerner teaching preaching in the Pacific, the article asserts the necessity of global homiletic conversation as a guard against hegemonic preaching practices and as a productive agent of cultural destabilization. This is particularly true when defining the contours of postcolonial preaching. By moving preaching into postures of Spirit-dependence similar to Mary’s dependence on the Spirit in Luke’s gospel, global homiletic conversation can facilitate sacramental performances of embodied relation between preachers, their changing communities, and Christ.

The paper reflects on the significance of the shifting identities of women in ministry and how these shifts are embodied in the clothing practices of the Methodist Church of Fiji.  The paper was written for an issue of Davuilevu Theological College's academic journal which focused on the significance of clothing practices for the Fijian church.

This presentation originally included 15-minutes of video footage excerpting conversations with three female seminary students/performers preparing to act in a production of Space for God, a series of dramatic monologues which focus on the challenges and joys of Christian calling. The conversations are part of a research project on the effect of performance on spiritual formation. The names of the participants have been changed and all descriptions of their experiences have been included with full permission.

This paper argues that Mary's experience of pregnancy and birth, as depicted in Luke's nativity texts, is significant for an apocalyptic understanding of homiletics, providing a description of human agency in the divine/human encounter that maintains the primacy of God's initiative and action. After highlighting points of resonance between Luke's nativity texts and the theological concerns of Pauline apocalyptic interpretation, I will argue that Mary's actions in " conceiving, " " bearing " and " naming " Christ are fruitful metaphors for describing the Spirit-empowered agency of the preacher in sermonic speech.

In the tumultuous years following the Jubilee celebration of the Methodist
Church in Fiji (2014), the 'New Exodus' vision of Tuikilakila Waqairatu and Tevita Nawadra Banivanua shaped the homiletic focus of the MCIF.  Through careful indigenous biblical interpretation, the metaphor worked to negotiate change and preserve cultural specificity in a volatile season.