I met yesterday with my dissertation committee, Drs. Mike Pasquarello, Joe Dongell, and Milton Lowe, to defend my Doctor of Ministry Dissertation entitled: A Journey in Preaching as a Spiritual Discipline. The committee was very complimentary of my work and approved my dissertation with only minor editorial changes. So, I will graduate on May 22, 2010 with a Doctoral Degree! Who would have thought that a high school drop-out from South Philly would end up with a doctorate? Not me. But that's just how the grace of God works- in ways that surprise, delight, and, often, overwhelm us.
The purpose of my dissertation project was to create a model for the development and delivery of sermons that would facilitate greater connection and intimacy between the preacher and the Christ whom the preacher proclaims. I contend that too many preachers are either on the verge of burnout or boredom because we have become more enamored with the craft of preaching than the Christ we preach. Homiletics has been hijacked by an over-emphasis on rhetorical technique, so that preachers tend to be more concerned with method, skills, personality, and eloquence than with the power of the Holy Spirit through their person and through their preaching. Exegetical, hermeneutical, and homiletical skills are necessary and important. I believe so strongly in these skills that I teach them to pastors in my denomination. However, if these skills are not submitted to and redeemed by the power of God then preaching will fall far short of its potential to transform lives.
I created a model for developing and delivering sermons that incorporated spiritual disiplines throughout the homiletic process. This was intended to facilitate a preaching practice that felt more like a journey into Christ than a task to be completed apart from Christ. My assumption was that preaching as a spiritual discipline, and not merely as a rhetorical task, would increase preaching joy and Christian ethos (love for God and love for people) in the 12 participating pastors. The findings of my study did, in fact, reveal an increase for participants in these areas.
My dissertation will eventually be available online. I'll keep you posted by letting you know when it's available. If you are interested in seeing it sooner, please email me and I'll send it to you electronically.
Thanks again for your prayers and celebration with me!
15 comments:
congratualtions, dr. luchetti! that is so awesome. and i love your topic. i think no one could have addressed it better than you, whose sermons have always blessed me more than i could possibly say. thank you for loving christ is such a visible and contagious way.
Thanks fo your kind words Amie. So glad our paths crossed at Asbury and that we're each serving Christ through the vocation he has called us to!
Congratulations! It was a joy to serve with you at SWC and know what you would become. I didn't know you dropped out of High School - while God does transform us in wonderous ways, His task is easier when the transformed is as gifted as you. While you have many gifts, your preaching was the gift I enjoyed the most. It is fitting that you would write the text on preaching with purpose and effectiveness. I look forward to reading your book and sharing it with my Pastor, another master of the Preaching Art.
Martin Capehart
Martin, thanks for your kind words.I remember you and your family fondly. What a joy it was to serve with you when we were in Kentucky for those few short years.
Blessings,
Lenny
How does one acquire a copy of a dissertation book once it is published? Thanks.
Martin
Hello Martin. The dissertation will be available online through Asbury's website in a few months. I would certainly be happy to send it to you via email as well. Shoot me an email and I'll send it.
Lenny
Dr. Luchetti
Congratulations friend!!!!!!!!!!
You made it!
I add my name to the growing list of eager-to-read commenters. I will drop you an email for the manuscript.
But most of all, congratulations!!!!!!!!!! Hoooorah
Excuse me,
REVEREND DOCTOR
I should have said. ;)
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Amiable fill someone in on and this post helped me alot in my college assignement. Thanks you for your information.
Congratulations!!!!! Lenny. We are happy for you.
Congratulations brother! I felt the urge to seek out Lenny Luchetti today and so I Googled you. Hmm, nice YouTube video too. Then I found your blog. Then I find that it will soon be Doctor Lenny. This is awesome, but above any title, your heart and passion for Christ and ministry is a point of celebration. Congratulations. And for a copy of your dissertation, sign me up man! Here's my email address... but spaced out a bit so internet software doesn't pick it up... mike at pulaskifmc dot com. I'm looking for a route for a motorcycle ride this year with a friend from my church... maybe PA loop could be the thing. Last year we went to TN and road the Tail of the Dragon. The ride home held 250 miles of down pour on I75 through KY. Nothing is waterproof in these conditions going 70mph. Nothing. Hope to hear back some time. I understand life is busy. BLESSINGS BRO!
It is also good to have something finish and done with, and I think completing dissertation defense can really be fulfilling. And I know it would be a dissertation help if you have confidence in yourself while defending the paper, because you would feel good.
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