Tomorrows Pulpit

Tomorrow’s Pulpit (1975) by Alec Gilmore – Lutterworth Press

ISBN: 0718822196
Condition: Good
Published: 1975
Offered by: Crappy Old Books

There was a time when the pulpit occupied a position of considerable authority, the Sunday sermon was an important feature of national life, and a clergyman could reasonably expect his congregation to remain seated while he explained, at considerable length, precisely what was wrong with the modern world.

Unfortunately, by 1975, the modern world had begun making alternative arrangements.

Welcome to Tomorrow’s Pulpit, Alec Gilmore’s examination of Christian preaching and its place in a changing society, published by Lutterworth Press during an era when traditional religious authority was being challenged by television, popular culture, shifting social attitudes and the increasingly troublesome habit of people thinking for themselves.

The title itself poses a fascinating question. What would become of the pulpit in an age when congregations were changing, religious certainty was less fashionable, and the average citizen could obtain moral instruction from an assortment of politicians, television personalities and newspaper columnists, none of whom appeared particularly well qualified for the responsibility?

For centuries, the sermon had been one of Christianity’s principal instruments of communication. From imposing cathedrals to modest village chapels, preachers had addressed their congregations on matters of faith, morality, salvation and the unfortunate consequences of enjoying oneself excessively.

But the twentieth century brought new challenges. Religious language increasingly seemed remote from everyday experience, established institutions faced declining influence, and the preacher could no longer assume that the congregation would accept every pronouncement simply because it originated several feet above floor level.

Gilmore’s subject is therefore an intriguing one: how might Christian preaching remain relevant, meaningful and persuasive in a world undergoing profound social and cultural transformation?

Published in 1975, the book also provides an absorbing historical snapshot of religious thinking at a time when the churches were confronting questions that would become even more pressing in subsequent decades.

There is, of course, a splendid irony in

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