Thomas H. Troeger

J. Edward and Ruth Cox Lantz Professor of Christian Communication

CV | thomas.troeger@yale.edu Phone:(203) 432-5330
Denomination: Presbyterian and Episcopal

Professor Troeger has written twenty books in the fields of preaching, poetry, hymnody and worship, is a frequent contributor to journals dedicated to these topics, and is a monthly columnist for Lectionary Homiletics and The American Organist.  His most recent books include Wonder Reborn: Preaching on Hymns, Music and Poetry; God, You Made All Things for Singing: Hymn texts, anthems, and poems for a new millennium; So that All Might Know: Preaching that Engages the Whole Congregation (with Edward Everding); Preaching While the Church Is Under Reconstruction; Above the Moon Earth Rises: Hymn Texts, Anthems and Poems for a New Creation.

He is also a flutist and a poet whose work appears in the hymnals of most denominations and is frequently set as choral anthems. For three years Professor Troeger hosted the Season of Worship broadcast for Cokesbury, and he has led conferences and lectureships in worship and preaching throughout North America, as well as in Denmark, Holland, Australia, Japan, and Africa.  Ordained in the Presbyterian Church in 1970 and in the Episcopal Church in 1999, he is dually aligned with both traditions.  He serves as national chaplain to the American Guild of Organists and is a former president of the Academy of Homiletics (the North American guild of scholars in homiletics) and the immediate past President of Societas Homiletica (the international guild of scholars in homiletics).

Read a feature article about Professor Thomas Troeger.

Quote

"I am trying to map the landscape of the heart that still rejoices in God yet lives in a world that is often oblivious to the spirit.  I believe to live gracefully with this tension is the mark of wisdom.  Such an understanding may baffle the dogmatic mind, but it does not lie beyond the capacity of the poetic imagination.  The imagination often holds together realities that are logically inconsistent yet dynamically coherent."

Education

B.A. Yale University
B.D. Colgate Rochester Divinity School
S.T.D. Dickinson College
D.D. Virginia Theological Seminary

Books

 

  1. Meditation: Escape to Reality (Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1977) 
  2. Rage! Reflect. Rejoice! (Philadelphia:  Westminster Press, 1977) 
  3. Are You Saved?  Answers to the Awkward Question (Westminster Press, 1979)
  4. Creating Fresh Images in the Pulpit: New Rungs for Jacob's Ladder (Listed as one of the ten most important books in 1983 by the Academy of Parish Clergy)  (Judson Press, 1982)
  5. Open to Glory: Renewing Worship in the Congregation (with Carol Doran) (Judson Press, 1983)
  6. New Hymns for the Lectionary: To Glorify the Maker's Name, with Carol Doran (Oxford University Press, 1985)
  7. Imagining a Sermon (Abingdon Press: 1990)
  8. New Hymns for the Life of the Church (with Carol Doran) (New York: Oxford University Press 1992)
  9. The Parable of Ten Preachers  (Nashville: Abingdon Press 1992)
  10. Trouble at the Table.  Gathering the Tribes for Worship (with Carol Doran) (Nashville:  Abingdon Press 1992)
  11. Borrowed Light: Hymn Texts, Prayers, and Poems (New York: Oxford University Press, 1994)
  12. Ten Strategies for Preaching in a MultiMedia Culture (Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 1996)
  13. New Proclamation Series A, 1999, Easter Through Pentecost (Thomas H. Troeger, et. al.) (Minneapolis: MN: Fortress Press, 1999)
  14. Preaching While the Church is Under Reconstruction.  The Visionary Role of Preachers in a Fragmented World (Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 1999)
  15. Imagining a Sermon, tr. by Hirohide Koshikawa.  In Japanese.  (Tokyo: The Board of Publications, The United Church of Christ in Japan, 2001).
    Above the Moon Earth Rises: Hymn Texts, Anthems and Poems for a New Creation (New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2001)
  16. Preaching and Worship (St. Louis: Chalice Press, 2003)
  17. So That All Might Know: Preaching to the Whole Congregation (with Edward Everding) (Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 2008)
  18. God, you made all things for singing: Hymn texts, anthems, and poems for a new millennium (New York: Oxford University Press, 2009)
  19. Wonder Reborn: Creating Sermons on Hymns, Music and Poetry (New York: Oxford University Press, 2010)

Courses

Principles and Practice of Preaching
The Theology and Practice of Church Music
The Round Table Pulpit
The New Homiletic
Theologies of Preaching
Congregational Song as a Resource for Preaching and Worship
Preaching to the Whole Congregation through Multiple Ways of Knowing

Interests

playing the flute, cross country and downhill skiing, hiking, cooking, gardening