Preaching with all our souls: introducing the SIFT method

Preachers know all too well that preaching is not a simple task. As preachers we carry an important responsibility for proclamation, but also for interpretation. As preachers we engage seriously with reading the scriptures, but also with interpreting the scriptures. As preachers we engage seriously with reading the movement of the Holy Spirit in God’s world, but also with interpreting the Spirit. As preachers we engage seriously with reading the contemporary context in which we live, but also with interpreting that context. As preachers we are involved in the complex task of interpretation, whether we are aware of it or not; and generally it is better to be aware of what we are doing rather than to take too much for granted and to leave too many of our assumptions untested. The study of hermeneutics is the study of interpretation. Increasingly people concerned with studying scripture are taking hermeneutics seriously. The aim of this article, therefore, is to explore one relatively new theory of hermeneutics that is relevant both for studying scripture and for thinking about preaching. The theory is known as the SIFT method of biblical hermeneutics and liturgical preaching