PREACHING GUIDED READING SEMINAR

(Rework May Assignment)

A Seminar Paper in the Doctor of Ministry Programme Submitted to

Rev. Dr. E. A. Ajibade, Faculty of Theological Studies
The Nigerian Baptist Theological Seminary,
Ogbomoso

In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Postgraduate

Guided Reading Seminar
DMN 908

BY

ADEMOLA JAMES OYENIYI

D. MIN II
21/0052

MAY 2023.

1
Ezekiel A. AjibadeContextualization of Expository Preaching: Engaging Orality for Effective

Proclamation in AfricaEdited by John Enyinnaya and Folashade Oloyede. Ogbomoso:

The Nigerian Baptist Theological Seminary, 2018.

THE ESSENCE OF THE BOOK

The book is about preaching in an African context. Its focus is in the area of orality as resource

for developing expository preaching that will be biblically based in Africa. It focused on

expository preaching and other forms of preaching, arguing that it is close to biblical preaching.

He maintained that expository preaching is the main method of preaching. It explains and

evaluates the element of expository preaching, The preparation, delivery, and contextualization

of preaching so that an African man will understand a sermon better using orality, such as myths,

proverbs, dance, drama, poetry, and storytelling. In an unbalanced continent educationally, the

book explores cultural relevance in which the gospel could be preached to all people without

missing any group out. The book contained seven resourceful chapters.

THE MAIN THOUGHT AND KEY EMPHASES

Orality for the purpose of contextualization of expository preaching in Africa

The understanding of Africans and their Oral nature will help the pastor’s sermon in a great way

Understanding the African oral nature will help them understand sermons and preaching more.

It explores the use of orality to develop expository preaching that will be biblical and contextual.

It maintained that expository preaching is the biblical method of preaching

2
Discussed the gem in orality and highlighted how a preacher could use them.

The work proposed that effective communication of expository preaching will happen when oral

elements in African communication are effectively used to convey the historical, grammatical

and the literacy context of the Bible and applied to the day to activities of the people.

CONTRIBUTION OF THE BOOK

The book is a well-researched work; it will go a long way to help the teaching and preaching

ministry in Africa. Much has been done in the area of African theology, philosophy, and

promoting African religion in the world. This book set a strong basis for the homileticians and

researchers in the field of preaching to promote African preaching in the African way to the

larger world.

The book will be of great value if used by faithful preachers in Africa to curtail heresy and

shallowness of biblical knowledge, which is one of the enemies of the gospel in Africa. Many

people on the pulpit have grown out of errors that need to be corrected.

This work will go a long way to make preaching to African audience easy, impacting, and

understandable. Many people who are doing the work of preaching are not truly engaging their

audience. They speak to an African audience as if it is a Western audience. Therefore, accessing

the African audience orality nature, as suggested by this book, will make the gospel feel at home

in Africa.

3
The book will be of great help and an eye-opener to African theological schools. It will help

foreign missionaries working on African soil to be more effective in their work. It will help them

to do analysis and indigenize the gospel.

VALUE

The book is of great value for theological schools, preachers on the field and missionaries. The

book is an eye-opener to many areas of research work available.

CRITICISM

Though the book is a well-researched book and very instructive am not sure it could fill the gap

it intended to fill because of the nature of the African audience and educational level. Most of the

preachers in rural areas cannot assess the book, and they are not even educated enough to

understand the book.

I, therefore, suggest that the author also writes in an African way to an African audience. Since

Africans are oral people, it would have been better if most cogent points discussed in this book

were put in audio and video tape because many will just use the book to decorate their shelves.

The content of the book is better presented in the form of seminars, as many as possible in our

conferences and workshop

Ajibade, Ezekiel A, Favour Olayinka Seun Ogundiran, “Appraising the Effectiveness of

4
 Bilingualism in Preaching: the Experience of Living Water Baptist Church, Ibadan,
Nigeria.” E-Journal of Religious and theological Studies (ERATS) 6, no, 3 (June 2020):
200 – 206.
THE ESSENCE OF THE article

The article made an investigation into wether bilingualism in preaching has effectively solve the

problems language in an hetorogenius congreagation. The church used as the basis for the

enquiry uses the the following of forms of bilingualism in preaching are code-mixing, code-

switching and the use of an interpreter. The reason for adopting bilingual in preaching is because

is to accommodate different tribes

THE MAIN POINTS

The main goals of the paper are to determine whether bilingual preaching is preferable to

monolingual preaching, to understand the factors that contribute to bilingual preaching, to

determine how bilingualism will fit into preaching in a heterogeneous culture, to evaluate how

the use of bilingualism in preaching has eliminated language barriers in a heterogeneous

congregation, and to determine the obstacles that could prevent the effective use of bilingualism.

The following research questions will be addressed by the study: What aspects influence the use

of bilingualism in sermons. the several styles of bilingual preaching. Where or how to apply a

certain type of bilingualism. Research is being done to see if bilingualism can break down

cultural barriers caused by language. And what are the challenges of bilingualism in preaching.

THE MAIN THOUGHT AND KEY EMPHASES

This work will go a long way to make preaching to audience easy, impacting, and

understandable. Many people who are doing the work of preaching are not truly engaging their

5
audience. They speak to a multilingual audience as if it is a monolingual audience. Therefore,

employing the multilingual method in sermon delivery, as suggested by this work will bridge the

communication gaps to the large extend.

He sought to determine how bilingualism would fit into preaching in a diverse congregation

effectively, evaluate how the use of bilingualism in preaching has overcome a language barrier

there, and identify any obstacles that might stand in the way of this. One of the most effective

methods for delivering the sermon in a diverse congregation or society is bilingualism. In the

church, it eliminates linguistic and intertribal obstacles.

The book will be of great value if used by faithful preachers to curtail lapses in sermon

delivery that may arise through communication gaps as a result of chosen language for sermon

deliveries.

CONTRIBUTION OF THE BOOK

One of the most effective methods for delivering the sermon in any diverse congregation or

community is bilingualism. In the church, it eliminates linguistic and intertribal obstacles. The

use of an interpreter is considered to be considerably more engaging and meaningful for the

audience than code mixing or switching by the preacher. Although preaching in two languages

has its difficulties, both the preacher and the interpreter can put up great effort to overcome these

obstacles. This article author of this article has done agreat work to help preachers who find

themselves in a heterogeneous community to preach the gospel effectively. The article will also

help the congregation to better understand the gospel well in their own native language. It will

help the church or denomination to retain their members because many who are out of their

6
locations and who would have loved to worship in their own denomination but because of

language barrier will stay because language issue is solved.

The goal of a study like this is not to downplay the necessity of knowing how to preach and

worship in indigenous languages. This should be the African church's path as it works to express

its distinctiveness and free itself from colonial remnants while also keeping in mind its place

within the realities of globalism and globalisation.

THE VALUE OF THE ARTICLE

The article will help to solve the challengies of bilingual in an heterogeneous congregation. It

will help missionaries and church planters to do more and to be more effective in their duty.

CRITICISM

Biligual preaching has been an old method in Africa but the problem of language is still very

high. I advice the author to look more deeply into the use of technology because in Nigeria alone

we have more than 400 dialect how could anyone satisfy such people? Except through the use of

hearing aids, cell group, round taple preaching, and teaching aids.