Author Archives: willwillimon

I’m doing a series at Grace Cathedral, Charleston, S.C. on my book, Aging: Growing Old in Church.  Here’s an interview with Bryce Wandrey of the Grace Cathedral team. 

Duke Chapel had me back to preach this morning for the Baptism of Our Lord service. You can watch it live on YouTube at 11am EST or anytime thereafter. The sermon begins at 26:50.

I was gratified to receive some kind comments about my book, Leading With the Sermon.  Donna Giver Johnston is a Presbyterian pastor in Pennsylvania.  She is currently working on a book on preaching that’s to be published by Fortress Press.  I’m grateful that my thoughts on preaching and church leadership struck a chord with this gifted pastoralContinue reading “On Leading with the Sermon”

Since we couldn’t be with the grandchildren for Christmas I recorded this story from North Carolina author, O. Henry.  Though written a century ago, O. Henry’s Gift of the Magi continues to be a Christmas favorite.  Merry Christmas!

The Christian Century has published a review by Johanna Hartelius of my new book Preachers Dare with whom I also recently spoke when she interviewed me with Crackers & Grape Juice about the book. She writes: The most profound insights in the book appear where Willimon traces his title’s assertion that “preachers dare” to theContinue reading “Preachers Dare Review”

Mark Connolly had me back on his More Christ podcast to talk about my book The Gospel for the Person Who Has Everything which has recently been republished by Paraclete Press with a new foreword by Lillian Daniel. We talked about what Jesus has to say to well-off folks without needs they’re aware of: heContinue reading “More More Christ”

During the Dean’s sermon on Sunday at the National Cathedral, Randy quoted from an old sermon of mine. Here it is in context: Advent proclaims that there is something more out there, something more that is coming, that the urging felt in the midst of our everyday lives is real, the emptiness we feel evenContinue reading “The Future Belongs to Those Who Wait”

Paraclete Press republished last month a new edition of my first book for churches, The Gospel for the Person Who Has Everything. Now with Paraclete, I’ve made a study guide which might help church groups who want to read through the book together or folks reading alone but looking for a deeper engagement, with questionsContinue reading “The Gospel for the Person Who Has Everything Has A Study Guide”

My friends of the Crackers & Grape Juice podcast had me back on to talk about my new book, Preachers Dare. Johanna, Teer, and Jason asked me about Barth’s bold declaration that Deus Dixit, God speaks. We then get into why sentimentality is the enemy of the Gospel. I even sneak a Proust reference in.

I was quoted by Mya Jaradet in this Deseret News article about what pastors should do about differing political opinions within their congregations. The executive summary: don’t worry too much about it! While many pastors avoid tackling a partisan divide head on for fear of exacerbating tensions, others say that such tensions should be expectedContinue reading “The Church’s Political Divide?”