Preacher
David H. C. Read’s Sermons at Madison Avenue Presbyterian Church
Edited by John McTavish
Imprint: Wipf and Stock
This book introduces David H. C. Read to a new generation, through sermons that are not merely elegantly worded and biblically grounded, but packed with life experience that included a five year stint as a prisoner of war during World War II. From amongst the almost 1500 sermons that Read preached during his ministry in Manhattan, John McTavish has selected forty enduring messages that show David Read, justifying Time magazine's assessment that "Read is not merely elegant and literary; his words carry authority… through his thought runs a strain of deep feeling and faith capable of convincing others."
David H. C. Read (1910 - 2001) was the pastor of Madison Avenue Presbyterian Church from 1956 to 1989.
John McTavish is a minister of the United Church of Canada, a playwright and compiler of chancel dramas, co-editor of the book Karl Barth: Preaching through the Christian Year, and the author of Myth and Gospel in the Fiction of John Updike. Mr. McTavish lives in Huntsville, Ontario, with his wife Marion.
"Adding his own engaging prefaces, John McTavish unapologetically presents a year's worth of 'sermons' by, yes, a 'preacher,' restoring fresh currency to those tired words, using David Read's reasoned faith, biblical imagination, and low-key style, which enthralled New York churchgoers for thirty years. This lively book is a sly reminder that, still today, thriving congregations require sermons, not reflections; and a preacher must be there."
--Bruce McLeod, retired parish minister, former Moderator, The United Church of Canada
"When we speak of relevant preaching, we generally mean sermons that are timely, or timeless. David Read's sermons are both: timely, because (for better or worse) the real-world concerns he addressed decades ago are with us still. More hopefully, Read's sermons are timeless, because the answering call of the Gospel--God's 'redeeming and reconciling force that works in everything for good'--rings as welcome and true now as then."
--Aimee Moiso, PhD candidate in Homiletics and Liturgics, Vanderbilt University
"This volume proves that sermons, and books of sermons, can be theologically substantive, as well as inspiring for congregants and instructive for preachers . . . [They] are masterpieces of eloquence and theological insight . . . The book is certainly to be recommended to ministers, and to professors and students of Homiletics."
--Harold Wells, Emmanuel College, Toronto, ON. As reviewed in Homiletic: The Journal of the Academy of Homiletics
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