“The voice of Barrie Shepherd is one of poetical nuance and theological clarity, largeness both of heart and mind. Now more than ever we need to hear him, for he is delight itself and so is this latest work from his prolific pen.” —Peter J. Gomes, Harvard University “With a generous scattering of quotations—many from his own poetry—Barrie Shepherd imaginatively and engagingly presents the case for preaching as one of the lively arts instead of a deadly bore.” —Frederick Buechner Preaching is an art, Barrie Shepherd argues, and the sermon is an art form, an exercise in creativity and imagination. But all too often preaching suffers from a lack of imagination and a loss of the joy, wonder, and delight that attracted the crowds to Jesus’ words two thousand years ago. In this book, based on his 2003 Beecher Lectures at Yale Divinity School, Shepherd hopes to encourage the preacher toward a more creative vision for the sermon. His approach is spontaneous, eclectic, intuitive, and daring. Shepherd’s purpose is to encourage the preacher to think of life as filled with God’s presence, to search for the presence, and to use images and words to unveil that presence. The end result is a sermon that is full of joy, wonder, astonishment, and delight.
A native of Great Britain, a Royal Air Force veteran, and a former high school drop-out, the Rev. John Barrie Shepherd retired in March 2000 after serving for the previous eight years as senior minister of historic (founded 1716) First Presbyterian Church in the City of New York. "First Church," situated on lower Fifth Avenue in Greenwich Village is the "mother church" of NYC Prsbyterianism and boasts a long line of illustrious preachers, from Jonathan Edwards in the early 18th century, to Harry Emerson Fosdick in the 20th. Prior to that Shepherd served for 16 years as senior minister of the Swarthmore (PA)Presbyterian Church, after several years in college chaplaincy and teaching.
Shepherd is a graduate of The University of Edinburgh (Scotland), Yale Divinity School, Yale Graduate School and The Hartford Theological Seminary, and also holds the degree of Doctor of Letters (D. Litt. honoris causa) from Muskingum College. He has written extensively in the area of spirituality and religious studies. His 14th book, "Faces By the Wayside - Persons who encountered Jesus on the road" was recently published by Wipf and Stock of Eugene OR and his "Between Mirage and Miracle - Selected Poems" is due from the same publisher late in 2012. Over 600 of Shepherd's poems and articles have appeared in publications both sacred and secular.
Shepherd has preached and lectured at Harvard (where he served on the Overseers' Committee To Visit Memorial Church and delivered a William Belden Noble lecture in 1995,) Yale (where he presented the Lyman Beecher Lectures in 2002), Princeton, Cornell, Dartmouth, Duke, and other universities, colleges and seminaries, as well as in distinguished pulpits across the USA,Canada, the UK, Europe and Africa.
Shepherd has served the national Presbyterian church (PCUSA) as Vice Moderator of the Synod of New England, as Moderator of the Presbytery of Muskingum Valley, as Chair of the Committee on Worship of the General Assembly and in other posts. In 2006 he received the Lifetime Achievement Award of The Presbyterian Writers' Guild. He is a national board member of The Covenant Network, a US Trustee of Saint Giles' Cathedral in Edinburgh, Scotland. He has just completed a term as President of the historic (founded 1747) Saint Andrew's Society of Philadelphia and curently serves that society, and the Saint Andrew's Society of the State of New York as Chaplain.
The Shepherds - Barrie and wife Mhairi - have four daughters and three granddaughters. They currently reside, along with Iona their Yorkshire terrier, in Wallingford, PA where Barrie spends his time writing, teaching, guest preaching and playing the euphonium in various local musical ensembles.
