Steve Peterson

Rachel Adams

Matt talks with his parishioners Lovely Carter, Steve Peterson, and Rachel Adams about the expectations listeners bring to sermons, how God might do something good through bad preaching, and the ways religions are like street gangs.

Episode 40:  Lovely Carter, Steve Peterson, and Rachel Adams

Marlin Lavanhar

Matt talks with Marlin Lavanhar, senior minister of All Souls Unitarian Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma, about how a group of Pentecostal Universalist Christians changed his preaching, the postliberal critique of Unitarianism, and preaching “belief” to rationally-minded people.

Episode 39: Marlin Lavanhar

Kenneth Samuel

Matt talks with Ken Samuel, the founding pastor of Victory for the World Church in Stone Mountain, Georgia, about journeying toward megachurch ministry, insisting on LGBTQ equality as a Southern Baptist pastor, and rebuilding his church after losing thousands of members.

Episode 38: Kenneth Samuel

Vince Amlin

Matt talks with Vince Amlin, copastor of Bethany United Church of Christ and the new church-start Gilead (both in Chicago), about preaching as an associate pastor, why preaching at weddings can feel pointless, and an intense life experience that reshaped Vince’s faith.

Episode 37: Vince Amlin

Jacqui Lewis

Matt talks with Jacqui Lewis, Senior Minister at Middle Collegiate Church in Manhattan, about “white flight” and her childhood church in Chicago, preachers and social media, and how the church/world relationship plays out in her diverse congregation.

Epiosode 36: Jacqui Lewis

Cornelius Plantinga Jr

Cornelius Plantinga

Matt talks with Cornelius Plantinga Jr., the former president of Calvin Theological Seminary, about miracles, the collapse of the sacred/secular distinction when “every square inch of creation belongs to Jesus Christ,” and why preachers should read more fiction.

Episode 35: Cornelius Plantinga Jr.

This episode consists of some of our favorite moments from episodes 14-33, which aired during our second season in the winter and spring of 2016.

Episode 34: Highlights from season 2

Matt Fitzgerald

Preachers on Preaching editor Neil Ellingson, also co-founder of Root and Branch Church in Chicago, interviews Preachers on Preaching host Matt Fitzgerald about the reasons he started the podcast and what he's learned so far, his own self-contradictory preaching approach, and how grace might come inside rising soap bubbles.

Episode 33: Matt Fitzgerald

Liz Goodman

This week Matt talks with Liz Goodman, minister of the United Church of Christ in Monterey, Massachusetts, about the value of ferocity in relationships, being perceived by small-town folks as provocative, and the freedom that comes from being in a pulpit for 15 years.

Episode 32: Liz Goodman

Emily McGinley

Matt talks to Emily McGinley, site pastor at Urban Village Church Hyde Park-Woodlawn in Chicago, about planting a church for LGBTQ people of color and allies, her own circuitous spiritual journey, and integrating preaching with the congregation’s testimony.

Episode 31: Emily McGinley

I listened to the first 15 minutes of Episode 2, and was instantly hooked. Matt reflects and speaks with such deep reverence, curiosity, and respect for the preachers he hosts. The conversations are incredibly insightful and leave me thirsting to learn more about about other people’s experiences in the journey through Christianity. I can’t wait until he hosts preachers from different faiths! 
Thank you, Pastor Matt!

Each episode leaves me hungry for more!

Listening to Preachers on Preaching is like taking a Masters Class in the art and craft of homiletics. It’s well produced out of the gate (I’ve listened to the first 2 of 3 episodes) and the conversation is substantive and inspiring. I particularly like that it’s not a lectionary-based podcast; I’m far more interested in general reflections on preaching than how so-and-so thinks you should address an upcoming text. I highly recommend this to anyone who preaches or loves listening to excellent preaching.

Masters Class in Preaching

Preachers on Preaching

Will Willimon

Matt talks to the Duke professor and former UMC bishop about resisting the temptation to close the gap between the Bible’s strange claims and a congregation’s expectations, and about following a really good preacher into a new church.

Episode 5: Will Willimon

Tony Robinson

Matt talks to Tony Robinson, pastor and consultant, about the myth of the “perfect church,” preaching through fallow periods, and congregations sustaining preachers’ faith.

Episode 26: Tony Robinson

Zack Eswine

Matt talks to the pastor of Riverside Church in Webster Groves, Missouri, about liberal-conservative distinctions, using failure well, and growing slower.

Episode 16: Zack Eswine

Jan Rippentrop

Matt talks to the chair of homiletics at the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago about homiletical theory, teaching preaching as a preacher, and whether or not some students are "naturals."

Episode 17: Jan Rippentrop

Scott Wilson

Matt talks to Paul Scott Wilson, who teaches homiletics at the University of Toronto, about the importance of doctrinal clarity in preaching, why God should be the subject of a sermon's verbs, and how preachers can make that happen.

Episode 27: Paul Scott Wilson

Christian Wiman

Matt talks to the writer and Yale Divinity School faculty member about poetry in preaching, whether scripture has unique revelatory power, naming the despair of churchgoers, and the centrality of Christ.

Episode 7: Christian Wiman

Bill Borden

Matt talks to Bill Borden, who teaches psychiatry at the University of Chicago, about transference, unintentional provocations, and Donald Winnicott’s wisdom for preachers.

Episode 21: Bill Borden

Shawn Anglim

Matt talks to the pastor of First Grace UMC in New Orleans about merging a black church and a white church together, preaching in a racially diverse congregation, and how context informs mission.

Episode 24: Shawn Anglim

J. Mary Luti

Matt talks to the retired pastor and professor about Catholic perspectives in Protestant pulpits, moralistic preaching from the left, and what happens when Godzilla shows up in the manger.

Episode 3: J. Mary Luti

Leslie Callahan

Matt talks to the senior pastor of St. Paul’s Baptist in Philadelphia about being the first female pastor there, the clash between her Pentecostal background and her religious studies education, and the false choice between good news and lament.

Episode 12: Leslie Callahan

Jim Wallis

Matt talks to the president of Sojourners about radical student politics, preaching at Davos, and activism as a form of proclamation.

Episode 10: Jim Wallis

Jennifer Morrow

Timothy Ross

Matt talks to Jennifer Morrow, pastor of Rowayton United Methodist Church in Rowayton, Connecticut, and Timothy Ross, pastor of Hopwood Christian Church in Johnson City, Tennessee, about their weekly sermon collaboration, editing each other's work, and listening for God’s movement in each other’s congregation.

Episode 28: Jennifer Morrow and Timothy Ross

Cláudio Carvalhaes

Matt talks to the McCormick Theological Seminary professor about liberationist preaching, being a missionary in the U.S., and prophetic preaching vs. moralistic finger-wagging.

Episode 9: Cláudio Carvalhaes

Lizzi Heydemann

Matt talks to the founder of Mishkan Chicago about Protestant vs. Jewish preaching, how to avoid a cult of personality, and what churches can learn from a Jewish faith community’s success.

Episode 8: Lizzi Heydemann

Nadia Bolz-Weber

Matt talks to Nadia Bolz-Weber, pastor of House for All Sinners and Saints, about preaching to oneself to benefit others, certitude's roots in fear, and balancing authenticity with orthodoxy.

Episode 25: Nadia Bolz-Weber

Donna Schaper

Matt talks to the Judson Memorial Church pastor about her childhood in the LCMS, the unique challenges of preaching in New York, and instances when a pastoral care matter makes it straight into a sermon.

Episode 6: Donna Schaper

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