Interpreting scripture in contemporary times

Abstract

The research project is a single case study of a clergy member's Sense-Making behavior in the interpretation of Scripture for the weekly Sunday sermon. Dervin's Sense-Making Theory provides the interpretative framework for the qualitative study. Through a series of unstructured and semi-structured interviews, the researcher explored how a clergy member goes about the routine task of sermon preparation. Sermon preparation requires the clergy member to bridge a historical gap of more than sixteen hundred years between contemporary and Biblical times in order to interpret and apply Scripture to contemporary life. The research project findings established links to previous studies in the Sense-Making literature and in the library and information science literature. An agenda for further research is proposed.