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Hill's "hells" are not just for other people. As he holds forth, a chunky figure in white billowing robe, mopping his brow from exertion, or telling a funny and touching story about how he and his wife once avoided divorce by going to an ice show, it is clear that he is down there, an Everyman in the street, wrestling with the devil himself. Hill brought his earthy style from Seguin, Texas, where he was raised among Depression sharecroppers. From his freshman year at Prairie View A & M University, where he earned a degree in agriculture in 1955, he paid his way by preaching. What he calls his lifelong "ro mance with the Word" is catching. In his almost two decades at Mt. Zion, his congregation has produced 74 preachers.
Edward W. Bauman, 52, Foundry United Methodist Church, Washington, D.C. "Someone once told me I always preach on tiptoe," says Bauman. "I consider that the greatest compliment I've ever received." It was a Boston University professor who first trained the slender, lantern-jawed Bauman in what has become his trademark in the pulpit: the importance of conveying joy and enthusiasm. "Preaching combines the skills of a writer and an actor and an artist," he notes.
Bauman gets up every day at 6 for prayer and yoga before tackling the daily chores. He outlines a whole year's sermons during a two-month summer "vacation" and admits that he reads and jots down ideas and quotes for sermons constantly, like an enquiring reporter. To preach effectively he has found he must remain close to his 1 ,400-member congregation. The outpouring of affection from members after worship each Sunday proves he has been successful.
"Preaching is one of the great joys of my life," Bauman declares. "The reason is that I believe what God did through Jesus Christ is the most important thing that ever happened in human history." Before coming to Foundry 15 years ago, he taught at Wesley Theological Seminary and American University, where he originated a TV series on the Bible, "Bauman Bible Telecast," seen in 50 cities. In this TV-minded age, Bauman feels, it is doubly important to provide illustrations in sermons. He notes that parables were Jesus' favorite form of teaching. Bauman is a theological liberal whose sermons are larded with quotes and examples from writers like C.S. Lewis and Thomas Merton. But he notes that America "has been on a head trip" since Franklin, Jefferson and the Age of Reason, and he thinks, "we have to remember to get in touch with our feelings."
In one of his finest recent sermons Bauman spoke of ways to deal with personal grief, taking as his text Jesus' raising of Lazarus (John 11:17-44), and touching on Lewis' book about his own wife's dying. Finding one's way back to new hope, he concluded, is always "frightening." He paused, then added in a rising voice, with overwhelming conviction, "but wonderful!" That was preaching on tiptoe.