The Personal Presence of the Preacher in Preaching: An Explorative Study on Self-Disclosure in Sermons at Pentecost

How does self-disclosure work in preaching? This study explores that question empirically, using a variety of data collection methods such as sermon analysis, focus groups, and interviews. Self-disclosure is an ambiguous concept in homiletical and theological literature, and it remains an ambiguous concept when considered from an empirical approach. Our focus is on how self-disclosure works brings to the fore three different homiletical processes: negotiating homiletical space, shaping the homiletical relationship, and performing self-disclosure. This study argues that researching implicit self-disclosure provides a better, though more complex, way of understanding the public presence of the preacher, than an analysis of the explicit use of the first pronoun “I” in preaching.

Die keuse van ’n model vir inhoudsanalise van preke oor armoede en aan armes as hoorders

A model for content analysis of sermons on poverty and to the poor as listeners The argument in this article is that the leading research question for content analysis of sermons has an influence on the choice of a model for research analysis. The author is searching for a suitable model for sermon analysis in order to analyse sermons on poverty and those directed to the poor. Different authors worked in this field of research, e.g. Cilliers (1982), Pieterse (1986; 1995a; 1995b), Moehn (1996), Vaessen (1997), Stark (2005), De Klerk et al. (2009) and Immink & Verweij (2007). The following models of content analysis for sermons are discussed: the Heidelberg model, the Heidelberg model with the use of the Kwalitan computer programme, the hermeneutical model developed by Vaessen, the model for researching the sermon as a Word of God by Stark, this com-bination of the Heidelberg model and Stark’s model by De Klerk, De Wet and Letšosa, and the grounded theory model for inductive analsysis of sermons in order to develop a theory from the data. The research question of the author’s project, namely on how preachers deal with sermons on poverty and those directed to the poor, has lead him to the choice for a grounded theory model developed by colleagues in Utrecht, the Nether-lands.