Our Flesh Speaks: Cultivating a Somatic Wisdom that Enriches Preaching

Embodiment in preaching typically focuses on the performance of delivering a sermon, but the preacher’s body also possesses significant symbolic meaning that actively contributes to the message. Homiletical scholarship has increasingly examined how identity shapes preaching, especially when bodies deviate from the expected norm of size, gender, color, and ability to encounter conscious and unconscious biases held by the listener. This essay takes the next step by layering these insights within a single body that moves through different communities. It argues that the preacher’s embodiment contributes symbolic meaning that is multifaceted, contextually variable, and communicatively significant. Drawing on examples from her experiences within a North American context, the author models a reflective practice grounded in theological, communication, and social scientific scholarship. In doing so, the essay articulates the value of developing a somatic wisdom that deepens self-awareness to sustain the preacher and attends to meaning generated in interpersonal connection to intentionally enrich communicative meaning. In this way, preaching can become a more fully embodied practice of liberation, solidarity, and transformative communal belonging.