The elegiac ballad "On the Willows," from the musical Godspell by Stephen Schwartz, was adapted from Psalm 137, which describes the despondency of the Israelites during the Babylonian exile. Both song and psalm ask, "How can we sing the Lord's songs in a foreign land?"
This question is at the heart of research by Charles G. Finney Professor of Homiletics and Liturgics Eunjoo Kim. As a South Korean immigrant to the United States and an ordained Presbyterian minister, Kim understands the need to "sing" the good news of Christ in a new land without losing one's sense of identity.
"My research focuses on new perspectives and methods of preaching [homiletics] and worship [liturgics] that are relevant to changing cultural contexts," Kim said.
Her project "Liturgical Space in Multicultural Contexts" grew out of her interest in the number of Christian churches that share their worship spaces with other religious and racial groups. Her case studies concentrate on five churches in Nashville and Denver that share their buildings with racially and denominationally diverse Christian congregations, a Muslim prayer group and a Reformed Jewish congregation.
"I initially expected that these churches might have theological motivations and clear visions for their relationships with those sharing the liturgical space," she said. "However, my interviews with religious leaders revealed that either they had not seriously considered these issues or had not practiced their ideas, if they had any." As a result, Kim pivoted to explore the theological significance of liturgical space in Christianity and other religions, and how sharing liturgical spaces could help transform a pluralistic society by building partnerships while sharing faith traditions as well as buildings.
With "Meta Homiletics," Kim studies methods of preaching that take the concept of preaching beyond the pulpit. "'Meta' is from the Greek and means 'beyond,'" Kim said. "The self-reflective nature of 'meta' suggests that meta homiletics goes beyond the conventional theory and practice of preaching by employing nontraditional strategies," such as viewing real-life situations as an extension of the pulpit.
"Wherever we meet 'the other'-whether in grocery stores, workplaces, children's soccer fields, hospital waiting rooms-can be considered a place for preaching. Every encounter with a stranger offers a moment to share the good news of Christian hope," she said.
Kim is the author of Preaching in an Age of Globalization (Westminster Knox Press, 2010) and Christian Preaching and Worship in Multicultural Contexts (Liturgical Press, 2017), among other books. Her most recent book is Preaching Jesus: Postcolonial Approaches (Roman & Littlefield, 2024).
"My future research will continue to explore the relationship between culture and the ministry of preaching and worship."
