Preaching with Freshness (Preaching With Series)

Bruce Mawhinney
Kregel Publications (2008)
ISBN 9780825434495
Reviewed by Dr. Michael Philliber for Reader Views (2/09)


Many pastors, priests and ministers find that after a few years out of seminary the tires on their ministerial dream-machine have gone flat, and they’re riding dangerously on their rims. Some throw their hands up in disillusionment and walk away, while others resign themselves to the three to four year cycle of hopping from congregation to congregation. But Bruce Mawhinney gives a hope-filled alternative in his “Preaching with Freshness.” In this highly readable, 258-page paperback, Mawhinney tells the story of fictional character Pastor Paul Andrews, and his amazing turnaround.

“Preaching with Freshness” is, as the title indicates, all about preaching. It is instructive, but the instruction is told within the framework of an imaginary narrative. This is the all-to-familiar storyline that has been, and is being, lived out by loads of preachers all over the United States and other countries. It’s the story of frustration, flatness, flawed goals, and feelings of failure. Many ministers will be able to relate to the story quickly and find themselves in the pages of this book. Yet the author has woven hope and help into most of the chapters.

The hope and help in “Preaching with Freshness” comes through Pastor Paul Andrews accidentally meeting up with his old homiletics professor, Dr. Vickerson. That chance meeting blossoms into a deep, rich Paul-and-Timothy-like relationship, in which the aged Dr. Vickerson leads Pastor Andrews back to his central purpose as a minister. From that renewed commitment to the central purpose of pastoral ministry comes out various insights, habits and practices for starting to preach with a new freshness.

Though “Preaching with Freshness” is primarily a work on homiletics, it is not “preachy,” with dry “how-to” lessons from some academic theoretician. Because the didactic substance is placed within a well-written story by someone who knows what he is writing about first-hand, readers will find themselves absorbed by the plot, and gladly consuming whole sections in a single sitting, ready to pick up the book at the next available opportunity.

One of the surprising benefits of “Preaching with Freshness” is that not only can preachers profit from the material, but also Bible teachers in a congregation’s Sunday School program.  The principles developed in these chapters can translate over into most any Bible teaching scenario, with real advantage. Finally, this is an essential read for anyone on a pastoral search committee, especially as they form the indispensable criteria for a new pastor.

Therefore I highly recommend “Preaching with Freshness” by Bruce Mawhinney for preachers and Sunday School teachers who feel the fire has been snuffed out, and for pastoral search committee members who need a place to begin as they think about looking for the right kind of pastor for their congregation. I also commend “Preaching with Freshness” to ministers who feel that things are going well in their pastorate, if for no other reason than this: Mawhinney has nicely mapped out ways to stay on target and not get lost in the ministerial jungle.

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