Philip Arthur Bence PhD Thesis - Research@StAndrews:FullText

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A. HARRY EMERSON FOSDICK
Harry Emerson Fosdick preached for his people. He
selected sermon topics in order to meet the needs felt by
his congregation. In the pulpit, he began his preaching
eagerly grasping for each hearer's attention. Throughout
the sermon, he sought to maintain that high level of
congregational interest.
To achieve his goal, Fosdick sought intimate
knowledge of his people. His role as pastoral counsellor
took high priority. Through counselling, he read his
people, and the results of this deeply personal study
appeared in his preaching week after week. Thus, each
member of his congregation sensed Fosdick's deep concern
for him as an individual.
This concern drove Fosdick to help people change the
way they lived. He knew that changing a person's habits
and thought patterns would change homes, places of
employment, and, on a larger scale, the city of New York.
Revealing the example of Christ and leading people to
follow it--Fosdick saw no limit to the good such
preaching accomplishes.
Herein lies Fosdick's strength--beginning where
people were and moving them to where he wanted them to
be. 1 He saw that preaching must 'scratch where people
itch.' 2 Otherwise, listening to sermons becomes
merely a ritual obligation. Likewise, Fosdick realized
that preaching must move people to change. Preaching
that did not change people and situations would place its