Womanists as Prophetic Preachers

Abstract

This article explores the sermon event from a womanist orientation for prophetic preaching. A womanist orientation in prophetic preaching refers to sermons that address social justice issues, critiques the ethical practices of the tradition in which the preaching is performed, and includes a paradigm for listeners to critique the emancipatory praxis in the sermon. This particular orientation for preaching is a critical hermeneutic and homiletic framework broadening the conversation about preaching beyond the sermon content to include the audience and the context. A womanist orientation in prophetic preaching takes seriously the language used in the sermon, the ethical implications of the language of the text, and the application of the text in the faith community. This approach builds on Katie Cannon's womanist analysis of Black preaching that examines oppressive language in Black sacred rhetoric and extends the critique to include an examination of logos, heterosexism, theological language, and emancipatory praxis.