Skill Builders

Home > Skill Builders

The Power and Beauty of Lament

An interview with Soong-Chan Rah.

Soong-Chan Rah

PreachingToday.com's editor Matt Woodley recently interviewed Dr. Soong-Chan Rah, the Milton B. Engebretson Professory of Church Growth and Evangelism at North Park Theological Seminary in Chicago, IL. Rah is also the author of Prophetic Lament: A Call for Justice in Troubled Times. Matt talked with Dr. Rah about the importance of preaching on lament.

Matt Woodley: In your book Prophetic Lament you tell a story about your first sermon series you did at your church plant in Boston—a six-week series from the Book of Lamentations. You called it a "seemingly illogical choice being both from the Old Testament and a downer of a book." So why did you start with the book of Lamentations and what happened as a result of that series?

Soong-Chan Rah: I teach church planting, and if you read a lot of the literature on church planting one of key phrases that we use is "seeker-friendly." We don't want to chase people away, but rather attract people into the church. That ...