ABSTRACT
The women and men in the sample appeared to be more alike than different in the selection of biblical texts for their sermons. Thirty-nine percent of the women preached from the Old Testament, and 61 percent from the New Testament, whereas 44 percent of the men preached from the Old Testament, and 56 percent from the New Testament. An effort was made to organize the central themes of these sermons into several general categories. Three themes were common to the preaching of both women and men: the church and its mission, Christian virtues, and racial identity. The fourth analytical category applied to the sermon sample was the use of inclusive language. Homiletics is the art of preaching as a subject of theological study. Affirming is the task of speaking in positive, encouraging terms to an individual or group, usually with reference to a declaration of belief or commitment in solidarity with others.
