The Pedagogies of Preaching

Abstract

This article investigates Pentecostal preaching from a pedagogical angle, more exactly from the point of view of its transmission to apprentice pastors in a Ghanaian seminary or Bible school. My concern is the reproduction of a specific preaching style in this institution, an “international” one, governed by explicit and implicit norms. I revisit ethnographically some of these norms as they are conveyed and embodied through lectures about preaching, devotional routines, and student services. I call attention to the emic notion of “flow”, arguing that it lends good legibility to how Pentecostals articulate the multivalent status of preaching as a mimetic skill, a contingent performance, and an authentic expression of charisma. By doing so, flow also provides an interesting entry into the pedagogical dimension of the power assembling and expanding this organization transnationally.

In/dividuality and charisma among Pentecostal Gypsies

“…Second, if when referring to charisma, Weber based himself on the separation between the leader and his followers, the way in which charisma is conceived in Pentecostal churches challenges this separation (Reinhardt, 2017: 75). Blanes (2010) and Campos (2011, 2014) have pointed to the possibility of a shared charisma.…”