Sound Preaching for Shaky Bridges: Tools for Preaching to Build & Encourage Leaders

Our world is filled with rivers and streams that are crossed regularly because of well-built bridges. These bridges connect one place to another and bring value to often overlooked bodies of water that flow consistently and powerfully beneath them. Some examples include the Brooklyn Bridge in New York that soars over the easy flowing East River while connecting Manhattan to Brooklyn; the Chesapeake Bay Bridge that bends over the cold Chesapeake Bay waters while connecting the Eastern Shore with the Western Shore in Maryland; and the Golden Gate Bridge that spans over the wide and winding Golden Gate Straight while connecting San Francisco and Marin County. These structures are not only connectors for land masses and covers for fast flowing water, but they provide an image of the goal of preaching: to transform and transport. So if the rivers that lie under those bridges represent challenges that separate laity from leadership, and the land masses represent leadership offices on one side and the doors of entry into an organization on the other, then the bridge that provides travel from one side to the next and brings value to laity is preaching. Preaching is a bridge; however, it is not necessarily as steady and secure as the aforementioned structures. Yet, it is still a bridge. With this in mind, I introduce to you “Shaky Bridge Preaching.”

Shaky Bridge Preaching empowers those who have been ostracized while creating awareness for elite groups that are blind to their group’s systems that facilitated this ostracization. Shaky Bridge Preaching can indeed be the catalyst for laity to transform into leaders and for leaders to be proactive about the promotion of laity.

When preaching happens, travel and transformation begin in the sense that they either encourage or deter movement towards the leadership doors of an organization. Ultimately, preaching is the bridge that moves people and brings transformative value to the overlooked laity of any organization--be it a church, community agency, or business.

“In a brilliant, relevant and provocative way, Dr. Dwight Riddick challenges practitioners and preachers to engage in the work of motivation and transformation through their proclamation of the gospel. In a work that is as timely as it is instructive, Dr. Riddick reminds readers that “Preaching is the bridge that moves people and brings transformative value to the overlooked laity of any organization.” This is both the journey and adventure to which he invites us: we would be well served to join him. A must read for any preacher.”

Dr. Lance D. Watson, Senior Pastor, Saint Paul’s Baptist Church, Richmond, VA and author of Maximize Your Edge and That Was Then, This is Now

“Dr. Dwight Riddick, II, is excited about how good preaching can develop leaders and his passion shines through these pages. Readers will be inspired to try what he teaches, in pursuit of raising up leaders from the ranks of the laity to better share the gospel.”

Paul Scott Wilson, Professor of Homiletics, Emmanuel College of Victoria University, University of Toronto

“For the troubled waters that inundate society, flood our communities and wash over our congregations, Dr. Dwight Riddick, II, offers preaching as a means to traverse such exigencies. Riddick’s bridge homiletic transcends not by going merely from here to there but by daring to move through and across life’s challenges. This is a timeless resource for persons desiring to proclaim a message of transformation through agitation.”

Stephanie Buckhanon Crowder, Ph.D Vice President of Academic Affairs, Dean of Chicago Theological Seminary

“Wise, thoughtful, mature, pastoral, practical, faithful, humble, genuine, creative, inviting – the work of Dwight Riddick, II is all of these. Then add caring, collegial, rooted in love of the gospel, and passionate about the possibilities of real preaching for a real church in a real world. Read, learn, and grow!”

W. Dow Edgerton, Professor of Ministry, Chicago Theological Seminary

"Sound Preaching for Shaky Bridges is not only thought-provoking in content but ingenious in presentation. This work reminds us of this truth through an engaging reading experience that would benefit every minister of the Gospel."

Debra J Mumford, Frank H. Caldwell Professor of Homiletics; Director of the Money Matters for Ministry Program

“As a resident of Hampton Roads Va., a region surrounded by water, I have a profound appreciation for the importance of bridges. In this work Dr. Riddick uses "bridges" as a powerful metaphor to communicate the utility of preaching to move believers from a place of inactivity to a place of influence. A must read for pastors with a desire to make that connection!”

Rev. Dr. Kirk T. Houston Sr., Senior Pastor Gethsemane Church, Norfolk, VA

“Dr. Riddick never disappoints, and Sound Preaching for Shaky Bridges certainly delivers! With both insight and content, the narrative is laid for (‘shaky bridge’) preaching as an open pathway connecting you to influence, to build, and to encourage those around you in becoming leaders, especially those who have been overlooked. This is a powerful read that provides a unique perspective for every leader and reader—to see where they can serve others and serve the Kingdom by simply walking across the bridge.”

Kathleen Patterson, Ph.D. Professor & Director, Doctorate of Strategic Leadership Program School of Business & Leadership Regent University