Calvin chaplain Mary Hulst ’91 has written a book about preaching for both preachers and those in the pews. Its foundation is the two decades she has spent writing about sermons and actually writing sermons.
Though she has a bachelor’s degree from Calvin in classical studies, a master of divinity degree from Calvin Theological Seminary and her PhD from the University of Illinois in communication ethics, a book on preaching was not in Hulst’s immediate plans. The daily work of chaplain to a campus of 4,000 students and another 700 faculty and staff—a post she has held since 2009—was more than enough to keep her busy.
So how did A Little Handbook for Preachers: Ten Practical Ways to a Better Sermon by Sunday (InterVarsity Press, April 2016) come about? As is her wont, Hulst attributes it to God’s good providence.
She was attending the 2014 Symposium on Worship, sponsored by the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship, and had been perusing the sponsor and book tables on the second floor of the Covenant Fine Arts Center.
At the InterVarsity Press display she had found a variety of books to buy (Hulst is a voracious reader). Arms full she headed to the cash register, where the IVP employee playfully said, “You’re obviously a pastor.”
Hulst explained that she was in fact Calvin’s chaplain, the college’s pastor in residence, and she told him a little of her background. Intrigued, the IVP employee said, “We should have you write a preaching book for us.” Hulst sort of shrugged it off, but his suggestion nagged at her.
Her book proposal to bridge the divide between preachers and lay people was accepted. In just under 200 pages, Hulst covers a wide terrain, bringing the philosophical and the practical together in a book that she hopes will assist preachers and those they serve, giving them a shared language via which to discuss sermons and preaching.
She wrote the book in part because she is a firm believer in the power of the sermon to change lives. “When people hear a sermon, God changes them, whether they like it or not,” she said, noting that a sermon is different from teaching or a lecture. “As Christians we root our words in the grand narrative of scripture. We love the story that changes lives. Every sermon is another lesson in how we can see God, hear God and know God.”
Relentlessly cheerful and positive, Hulst includes numerous words of comfort and encouragement and roots those in God’s sovereignty. As she notes in the conclusion: “I hope this book cheers you on in the beautiful, hard work of writing and delivering sermons. Preaching is a great privilege, holy work, and I believe God uses it to change people, change the church and change the world. Keep it up. Do not grow weary.”
