The Pedagogies of Preaching

Abstract

Abstract This article investigates Pentecostal preaching from a pedagogical angle, more exactly from the point of view of its transmission to apprentice pastors in a Ghanaian seminary or Bible school. My concern is the reproduction of a specific preaching style in this institution, an “international” one, governed by explicit and implicit norms. I revisit ethnographically some of these norms as they are conveyed and embodied through lectures about preaching, devotional routines, and student services. I call attention to the emic notion of “flow”, arguing that it lends good legibility to how Pentecostals articulate the multivalent status of preaching as a mimetic skill, a contingent performance, and an authentic expression of charisma. By doing so, flow also provides an interesting entry into the pedagogical dimension of the power assembling and expanding this organization transnationally.