The “other” voice in preaching: Intertextual form and function in contemporary English sermonic discourse

Journal article, 2015

This study explores how and why contemporary preachers rely on intertext when preaching. The investigation, based on close reading of sermon manuscripts, semi-structured interviews with preachers, and frequency searches finds that (i) preachers use an intertextual reference approximately once every 90 seconds of preaching; (ii) intertextual sources are usually prominently foregrounded and the voice of the source frequently rendered directly rather than indirectly, suggesting that significant parts of the sermon are presented wholly from the perspective of the intertextual source; (iii) preachers are sensitized to the multifunctionality of sermon intertext and exploit such functions in purposeful ways.