Toward a Common Hope

Our churches and our country long for an expression of common hope. Over the last century, venerable voices in affirmation of a common faith and a common ground have been lifted and heard in Boston, such as those of John Dewey and Howard Thurman. The Dean of Marsh Chapel, Robert Allan Hill, has preached on themes related to a common hope since 2006. Hill has lifted the theology of hope, of a common hope, at the marrow of the gospel. We cherish our forebears, who taught about a common faith and preached a common ground. In church and culture today in America, it is the prospect of a lasting, sturdy, shared hope, more purple than either blue or red, for which we hunger. The sermons about a common hope collected here were preached at the Chautauqua Institution in August of 2017.

""Dr. Hill writes in the language of a poet and has called on the reader to move from what is upwards to a new confidence and a resilient hope.""
--Henry Roberts, Alabama-West Florida UMC

""Dr. Hill's gift as a preacher is in using biblical stories, along with a rich variety of cultural and literary images, to reveal what a responsible twenty-first century Christian life looks like.""
--Mark Trotter, Retired United Methodist Minister, Sr. Minister First UMC San Diego

""In my part of the country, when a preacher brings the arsenal of scholarly credentials that Bob Hill does to the preaching task, then listeners habitually fold their arms and say to themselves: ""OK, preacher--Wow, me!"" And yet, for all his vigilant scholarship and literary finesse, Hill makes reading this sermon collection a delight.""
--David Mosser, Central Texas UMC

""In his opening Chautauqua sermon, Bob Hill claimed, with no tongue in his cheek, that the church has nothing better to do . . . nothing other to do . . . nothing more important to do . . . and nothing else to do, than preach. Audacious, to be sure. Even gutsy. But then Bob spent five days and multiple pages offering both proof and demonstration. I believe him. I do what he does. And because of Bob, I will do it boldly, proudly, and hopefully more effectively.""
--William A. Ritter

Robert Allan Hill is the dean of Marsh Chapel at Boston University and a professor of New Testament and pastoral theology at Boston University School of Theology. He is the author of fourteen books, including Snow Day (2003); Renewal (2009); Seeing With the Heart (2010); The Courageous Gospel (2013); Charles River (2015); and Parish Preaching (2016).