We communicate with more than words but it is one of the chief means of human communication. Words disclose but also limit meaning; tell us something and not something else. Church words help those in the pews to know who they are and what God expects of them as individuals and as a community. Church words, i.e., God, sin, grace, and salvation still transmit this tradition but no longer translate the tradition for many, particularly young people, intelligibly or relevantly. Paul Tillich' s language for the Church attempted to close this language gap for modern congregations and those outside the "Christian circle," but changing assumptions of his listeners limited its effectiveness. Ironically, Tillich' s interpretive language of the Christian tradition as broadened towards the end of his life may still hold promise to restore intelligibility and relevance of the Christian tradition for those outside the "Christian circle," either underchurched or unchurched, in this time of the postmodern. This project tests, through "translational preaching," the sufficiency of Tillich's church language to deepen the self-identity and church participation of today's underchurched and unchurched, in a way that garners the support of traditional churchgoers.
