414 - The Restoring Word: Preaching as Pastoral Communication

The Restoring Word: Preaching as Pastoral Communication
By J. Randall Nichols
San Francisco, Harper & Row, 1987. 216 pp. $15.95.

This very fine work will probably have as much critical acclaim as did its companion volume Building the Word: The Dynamics of Communication and Preaching. Nichols, who is director of the Doctor of Ministry program and Lecturer in Theology and Communication at Princeton Theological Seminary, shows in this work how the parish minister can integrate the role of preacher and pastor. As he notes, this integration historically has not been an easy one. "We struggle with the roles of pastor and preacher, which do not fit easily together nearly as often as we would like to think. The pastor is a tolerant listener, committed to meeting people 'where they are' and serving them by presence and shared experience. The preacher, by contrast, is a talker, a representative of the imperatives of the gospel and its claim on human life, an advocate for change and self-transcendence. How can one person consistently do both?"

Central to Nichols' thesis is that restoration is the essential task of ministry, be it the ministry of preaching or of pastoral care. The question is: how can a word restore? What is it about the word spoken in preaching and the word spoken in pastoral conversation that is so potent in human experience? Nichols addresses these questions and others through an analysis of how the word of worship and the word of pastoral communication operate between the minister and those to whom she or he ministers.

The author is very well qualified to do this comparison, for he is not only a teacher of theology and communication but also a practicing psychotherapist. Using the groundbreaking and somewhat controversial work of the anthropologist of ritual, Victor Turner, Nichols is able to show that restoration is a perspective in both worship and therapy. Rather than there being a chasm of difference between the prophetic and convictional in preaching and the personal and healing aspect of pastoral care, there is more in common between the two than most of us might think. Both modes of ministry are directed toward restoration and the making of community: God's people who are responsible for caring for God's world. Of particular importance, this book debunks the all too

415 - The Restoring Word: Preaching as Pastoral Communication

commonly held assumption that pastoral care caters to a person's narcissism and preaching mobilizes for greater responsibility. Robert Bellah and others not withstanding, good pastoral care (therapy) is ethically oriented and seeks to restore the person to greater and greater integration into the community while at the same time being critical of it. Nichols also makes a strong case for social restoration, which is to say that whole communities as well as individuals can experience transformation.

While this book is theologically grounded and fairly technical, it also addresses several practical issues. Nichols devotes an entire chapter each to the importance of liturgy and ritual (both in therapy and worship) that encourages restoration (or Turner's communitas); the relationship between the listener and the speaker; the impact of the cumulative sermons as opposed to the single sermon; and the importance of understanding and preaching about depression, divorce, separation and loss, and conflict and confusion. The book ends with a moving sermon, "The City of Sadness," written by the author and analyzed by him following the principles set forth in the book.

Nichols is a talented writer with a style that is easy and enjoyable to read. At times, this reviewer had the feeling that he was in conversation with the author. That indicates to me that Nichols not only clearly understands his material, but also has something personally at stake in presenting it. He is both preacher and pastor. In addition, for those who wish to range even more broadly in the theological, anthropological, and psychological material used in the book, there are reference notes and an index.

This is a very important book by a gifted preacher, pastor, and teacher. I cannot recommend it highly enough. I know of several hospital chaplains who are requiring it of all their student chaplains in clinical pastoral education. It is my hope that those who are not involved in specialized ministries will take it to their parishes as well.

Brian H. Childs

Columbia Theological Seminary
Decatur, Georgia