Prevalent Genres of Preaching and Its Significance to Young People in this Time of Pandemic

Abstract

Preaching is a scriptural interpretation of human existence which enables a community to recognize God’s active presence, respond to that presence in faith through liturgical word and gesture, and beyond the liturgical assembly, through a life lived in conformity with the Gospel. Through the act of preaching, the preacher ought to reveal people’s hearts to themselves, give them the power to make judgments that liberate them, and imbue in them the confidence to face their fears with faith, hope and love. Given that young people today, (especially in this time of pandemic) are hungry and sometimes desperate for meaning in their lives, there ought to be a shift in preaching from mere scriptural interpretation to a kind of preaching which takes into consideration the concrete, existential and phenomenological realities of young people. This kind of preaching ought to assume a prophetic dimension if it is to effectively cater to young people or assure unwavering hope in this time of the pandemic (new-normal). In what follows, the paper critically examines some prevalent genres of preaching, how these genres of preaching cater to young people, and the most suitable genre of preaching to be adopted for use in the Nigerian Church today.