THEOLOGICAL CLUE

With one more Sunday remaining in August, the preacher may find more of a practical preaching clue in the approach of the fall season than a theological theme in the church year. For now, the latter part of August emphasizes a kind of homiletical eschatology; in many congregations, one has been preaching primarily to the faithful few during the summer months, and soon summer will be over. Attendance will increase in the next few weeks and one's preaching may have to be somewhat different than it was during the summer. Congregations come to life in September, awakening, as it were, from spiritual hibernation during the summer months. All sorts of programs are about to begin again. Pastoral exegesis will determine what sort of preaching has to be done to speak in this situa…