Enable mission in your parish with Divine Renovation’s handbook for communicating the Gospel today.
The Sunday homily is the best opportunity priests have to reach the hearts of parishioners. But with little focus on preaching, many end up delivering homilies that may be nice, but not particularly impactful.
What would it look like if our preaching is missional: one that pierces hearts, inspires personal conversion to Jesus, unleashes missionary disciples, and helps the entire parish break out of maintenance mode?
In Preaching on Purpose, Fr. Alex Colautti, Fr. Simon Lobo, Rev. Rob McDowell, and Fr. Christopher Ryan give us a practical handbook that provides concrete guidance and insights so that our preaching will transform lives and enable mission.
We believe that what is needed most today is missional preaching. Why? Because great preaching enables mission.
If we truly believe that the Church needs to rediscover her missionary identity, then we need to raise the bar on our preaching.
We wrote Preaching on Purpose so you can start preaching in a way that pierces hearts, inspires personal conversion, and unleashes mission.
The post-Christendom context and its implications for preaching the Gospel today
Making Sense of a Passage of Scripture
Developing a Complete Message
Preparing Your Delivery
A Team-Based Preaching Process
Confronting the Controversial: Handling the Hot Topics
Plus:
Preaching at Baptisms, Weddings, and Funerals
Non-Liturgical Preaching & Youth Ministry
The Missional Preacher’s Checklist
And more!
Bishop of Christchurch, New Zealand
“We all know the impact that an authentic, well prepared, engaging, and clearly presented homily can make—people’s lives are changed. The real question remains not ‘should we’ but, rather, ‘how do we’ preach more like the apostles? For me, this book answers the question better than any other. It is the full package. Your preaching will not be the same after reading it!”
Archbishop of Cardiff and Menevia • Chair of the Department for Evangelisation and Discipleship in the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales
“…as I am, for the imaginative way in which Preaching on Purpose puts before us the challenge of breaking open God’s Word in a manner which brings transformation both in the preacher and in the hearer. The authors—pastors inspired by Divine Renovation—enthusiastically urge us all to preach in a way which ‘awakens the soul . . . and does not put it to sleep’ (Pope Francis). All those entrusted with this sacred task will, I am sure, read it avidly. The task then is to put it into practise.”
Sacred Heart Major Seminary, Archdiocese of Detroit
“Everybody agrees: Preaching in the Catholic Church has got to improve. This book, written by experienced practitioners, makes a very worthwhile contribution. I am eager to share this with the seminarians and priests I teach.”
General Superintendent, The Wesleyan Church
“I read Preaching on Purpose to fulfill a friend’s endorsement request—in the process it ambushed me and re-energized my own call to what it describes as the ‘Third Luminous Mystery: The Proclamation of the Kingdom and the Call to Conversion’. While I oversee another denomination in a different church tradition, and have been preaching for four decades in a variety of contexts, I finished the book freshly inspired and so practically equipped for missional preaching—you will be too!”
Fr. Alex Colautti, CC is the associate pastor of Saint Benedict Parish, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. He has been communicating dynamic messages, in person and online, long before he was ordained a priest in May 2018.
Fr. Simon Lobo, CC is the pastor of Saint Benedict Parish, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. His first book, Divine Renovation Apprentice: Learning to Lead a Disciple-Making Parish, was published in February 2018.
Rev. Rob McDowell is an ordained Wesleyan pastor who was part of the staff team at Saint Benedict parish for several years. He is also a leadership coach with the Divine Renovation Ministry.
Fr. Christopher Ryan, MGL is the pastor of St. Declan’s, Penshurst, and Our Lady of Fatima, Peakhurst, Australia. He is also the Director of the Arete Centre for Missionary Leadership.
Preaching on Purpose will be available for purchase on Amazon this Fall.
While Preaching on Purpose was written with priests, deacons, and bishops in mind, the principles behind communicating the Gospel in today’s context will also benefit seminarians and lay people who want to communicate the Good News inside and far beyond the four walls of the parish.
Preaching on Purpose provides a compelling analysis of our post-Christendom context and its implications for preaching the Gospel today. It is also a practical handbook that provides concrete guidance and insights from four experienced preachers on how to evolve our preaching in light of those insights so homilies can bear the fruit of transformed lives.
You absolutely can. But since you wouldn’t want him to take it the wrong way, it’s always best to have a relationship with him so he knows that your gift comes from a place of sincerity.
We encourage you to give it to him in person, affirm him in his priestly ministry, thank him for everything he does for the parish, and assure him of your prayers!
While the authors do touch on Divine Renovation’s principles of parish renewal, readers do not need to be familiar with Divine Renovation. Preaching on Purpose will benefit anyone who is passionate about communicating the Good News effectively today.
If you’re from a parish, seminary, diocese, or another organization and would like to place a bulk order, please email us at [email protected].
At the moment, Preaching on Purpose is only available in English. Sign up for our newsletter to get the latest updates from Divine Renovation, including new releases of our books in different languages.
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