Mission Yearbook: Pastor of Harlem church discusses preaching from a biblical character’s perspective

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The Rev. Dr. Derrick McQueen (photo courtesy of St. James Presbyterian Church).

The Rev. Dr. Derrick McQueen recently led participants in the Synod of the Covenant’s Equipping Preachers series in a master class on preaching from the perspective of a biblical character.

McQueen is well qualified: His undergraduate degree is in theater, and he’s preached from the perspective of any number of biblical characters, including the donkey that carried Jesus into Jerusalem.

Watch McQueen’s 88-minute presentation here. Synod Executive the Rev. Dr. Chip Hardwick introduces him at the eight-minute mark.

McQueen is pastor of St. James Presbyterian Church in Harlem, which was founded in 1822 as Shiloh Presbyterian Church, an abolitionist faith community. “We are still in the work of liberation — not just in Harlem, but around the world,” said McQueen, who also teaches at Union Theological Seminary.

McQueen reminded webinar participants, most of them preachers, that:

• We do not preach about the Bible; we preach from within it
• The pulpit is not performance — it is presence
• Through exegesis, embodiment and imagination, we listen to the heartbeat of the text
• Preaching is persuasive speech
• The Word becomes flesh again when we dare to enter the story — not as observers, but as participants.

In theater training, “I learned that truth is discovered in the body before it is spoken by the tongue,” McQueen said. “Preaching is an act of radical empathy, a rehearsal for justice.”

Much of McQueen’s preaching style comes from listening to people like his Aunt Dot tell stories, or his grandparents recount their fishing trips to Jacksonville, Florida. “You all have those stories in your histories, those embodied memories,” he said. “It’s about resurrecting that feeling you had.”

McQueen suggested this approach:

• Choose a biblical companion. “Find solidarity in voices like Esther, Moses, or the woman with the alabaster jar” and others, he said. “Freedom begins when silenced voices find resonance. The pulpit can be that resonant chamber.”
• Research and contextualize the character. Study their world. What empire surrounds them? What theology sustains or constrains them? What power dynamics define their courage? McQueen recommended drawing on critical tools, including feminist and womanist interpretations and post-colonial readings.
• Journal the journey. “Write as if the companion is speaking directly to you,” McQueen suggested. “What fear do they ask you to face?” When McQueen was journaling with the prophet Hosea, “I heard him whisper, ‘love even when it hurts your dignity. That’s how God loves you.’”
• Construct the sermon from their world to ours. “The preacher stands with one foot on the world of the Bible and one foot in the world of today,” said McQueen, quoting Dr. Tom Long. “The Word lands among us. The preacher’s task is to carry that voice across time without losing its accent of compassion or its rhythm of protest.”
• Preach with embodiment and celebration. “Trust your voice as an instrument and your body as a vessel to make sure you are not acting — you are incarnating,” McQueen said.

Mike Ferguson, Editor, Presbyterian News Service (Click here to read original PNS Story)

Let us join in prayer for:

Neal Martin, Service Desk Technician, Administrative Services Group
Michael Marrone, Vice President, Strategic Initiatives, Strategic Planning, The Board of Pensions

Let us pray:

Lord Jesus Christ, your sacrifice came in dying. May ours come through living — in the shadow of the cross. Amen.