Excerpt from For Pulpit and Platform: A Handbook on Preparation Numerous works on public religious discourse have been published that present the subject with minuteness and elaboration. There seems to be a place for a book that sets forth the essentials of effective speech in a less amplified form, for use by busy pastors, by speakers on various kinds of religious topics, and as a book of reference for students in theological schools. With slight change in phraseology the principles involved are equally applicable to those who wish to express their thoughts in an ordered and persuasive way, on any sort of subject. The author trusts that in the choice of materials and in the method of their presentation the work will be found to be practically adapted to the foregoing ends. With the spread of democracy, public speaking will be more widely practiced in the immediate future, and it is imperative that it shall be effective. If this handbook shall prove to be of service in furthering effectiveness of public speech, the purpose of the author in its publication will be achieved. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

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Making Your Way to the Pulpit is a book for beginning preachers, for preachers who will never have a seminary course called "homiletics" (the art of preaching), for preachers who studied homiletics with William Hethcock and want a review, and for all preachers who are looking for a tested, reliable approach to sermon preparation. In short, this is a book for those who preach regularly or occasionally and would like a clear guide for making their way to the pulpit. At the School of Theology (SofT), University of the South, Sewanee, Tennessee, the Rev. Dr. William H. Hethcock directed field education from 1979 to 1985 and taught homiletics from 1985 until his retirement in 1997. After retiring, he continued to teach homiletics on semester contracts at the SofT and the Virginia Theological Seminary (VTS). He remains active as a teacher, speaker on the subject of preaching, and preacher. Assimilating the work of other scholars, Hethcock developed his own process for approaching sermon preparation on a weekly basis. This book summarizes and describes the Hethcock method. When followed, his process reliably gets the preacher to the pulpit with a biblical proclamation that resonates with individuals in today's congregations.