Preaching is an embodied practice, bringing together in a preacher the life of the mind and life in the body. I serve a congregation of people who value preaching that is intellectually open and astute. There are also signs that the congregation is responding physically (i.e. clapping) and vocally (i.e. responding out loud to questions when prompted) during sermons. Meanwhile. I am feeling moved by the Holy Spirit to explore a dimension of my preaching that is intentionally aware of, and committed to developing the use of, my body as the primary means of communication. I call this "embodied preaching." Drawing upon the conversation between homiletics and performance theory, I want to explore the possibilities of embodied preaching within the context of my intellectual congregation through the discipline of listening to my body in preparing to preach and in performing sermons. I want to take noticeable risks to expand my repertoire of embodied preaching practices and to expand my congregation's repertoire of preaching responses. Finally, I want to explore whether embodied preaching lends itself to transforming the embodied work of the congregation in the world.
