Preaching in the Face of Scandalous Wealth

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Economic inequality in the United States has grown exponentially in the last four decades. According to the Congressional Budget Office, the top one percent of the US population currently holds about 30% of the total personal wealth. This extreme economic disparity continues to impact families at the bottom in unimaginable ways, depriving them of basic amenities such as housing, education and healthcare. There seems to be no end in sight to this growing crisis.

What should Christian preaching look like in the context of such extreme wealth disparity? What insights do the Synoptic gospels offer for challenging dehumanizing economic structures and envisioning alternatives? And what exegetical strategies and tools can preachers employ to glean such insights from texts? This workshop explicates gospel texts that address pertinent issues and highlights the concrete ways the Church can leverage its privilege—the pulpit, pocketbook and power--to shape economic policies and…