Rick Blackwood. The Power of Multisensory Preaching and Teaching: Increase Attention, Comprehension, and Retention. Grand Rapids, MI.: Zondervan, 2008. 204 pages. $19.99

Rick Blackwood received his Doctorate of Ministry from Grace Theological Seminary and his Doctorate of Education from The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He serves as the lead pastor of Christ Fellowship Church in Miami, Florida. He gives leadership to a large multicultural ministry that server several locations throughout Dade County. His church consistently has been among the top 100 fastest growing churches in America. His ministry is on that list repeatedly even though Miami is noted for being among the top unchurched cities in the nation. His greatest qualification for being able to speak authoritatively to this subject is the fact that this topic is the subject of his research and is the product of work he conducted at Christ Fellowship. The author’s purpose for this book is to encourage preachers and teachers to go from good communication to phenomenal communication through the use of multisensory preaching and teaching.

In Part One he works to explore why multisensory communication is so powerful and how it can significantly elevate congregation attention levels as well as raising comprehension and attention status (20). He argues the more congregations’ senses are stimulated the more they pay attention, comprehend, and retain. Blackwood realizes that “the multisensory teacher recognizes that the senses as information receptors” (14). He makes his case that many are left out of the learning process simply because preachers and teachers have not tapped into the model of multisensory communication.

He utilizes this baseball analogy to further illustrate his point about the benefits of multisensory preaching and teaching. His premise is that if an audience has not been paying attention to what is being preached then it would be difficult for them to apply what they have been taught (42). The challenge of first base is to grab the audience’s attention to help them comprehend what the preacher aims to teach. For second base Blackwood says “an audience will not be able to act on what they do not understand” (43). So, comprehension is its focus. Third base wrestles with helping audiences remember what they have been taught because “people cannot act on what they cannot remember” (43). He intimates that retention is the “after affect” of learning that makes the content memorable. He says that the listeners cross home plate when they actually do what it is that they have been instructed through the preachment. The author again looks to the results as justification of this methodology.

After sharing the methods of his study and the statistical significance of his findings, Blackwood sets out to address the negative reaction to this model of communicating the gospel. He looks for theological endorsements to substantiate his claims of biblical acceptance. Then he sets out to answer three questions. The first is “Does the bible forbid the use of multisensory teaching?” (73). He establishes his endorsement by declaring that God is a multisensory communicator (75). The second question is “Does multisensory teaching water down the gospel message?” (78). According to the author, “multisensory preaching by nature does not seek to change the message, only the method of delivery” (79). The third and final question is “is multisensory teaching simply entertainment?” (80). His answer involves a dance with semantics but he ultimately says that “multisensory teaching is entertaining in the sense that it engages the mind” (81). He wraps up the first part by refuting the suggestion that multisensory preaching and teaching is merely for topical messages or mindless preaching by declaring his belief that it is the perfect marriage with expository preaching (86).

Part Two Blackwood focuses on preparing a multisensory message. In this section he discusses the preparation, process, and the procedures involved in developing a multisensory message. It is here that Blackwood gets down to “brass tacks of making multisensory messages a reality (89). He reiterates the model that he believes is the most effective for getting congregants to act. He says “Verbal Communication + Visuals + interaction = Maximum Impact” (90). The author calls upon the preacher to prepare himself and the congregation for the shift that is about to take place so he includes several rules or tips to consider. In chapter seven he encourages the use of teaching teams. He says “instead of one brain attempting to come up with all the ideas, you now have multiple brains” (101). His practical advice does not stop there, he also recommends a creative team (102) and implementation team (103).

Designing a multisensory message is comprised of four steps, each with multiple sub-steps underneath. According to the included chart (106) the process takes six months from concept to evaluation. There are other helpful charts (122) and forms (123) to guide the preacher/teacher who might be new to such processes. He closes out part two by selling the reader again on the usefulness of multisensory preaching by holding up heaven as his example (127). He spends the next few pages giving examples of various ways that worship services can become multisensory, through sound (129); through music (130); visual illustrations (131); video screens (136); art (137) and many others.

Part Three is Preaching a Multisensory Message. He shares three levels of multisensory sermons that relate to the level of involvement and investment needed to carry out messages of this sort. Blackwood shares several sermon manuscripts with varying ranges of involvement and investment employed to make them multisensory. He further urges the preacher to be clear in communication. He says “nothing stops sermon momentum like ambiguity” (162). He calls our attention to 1st Corinthians 14:8 and suggests that preachers must make a clear call. He ends this section with more explanation and illustrations on retention. The book is rounded out with an Epilogue, Appendixes, and Endnotes.

The book was clearly and well written. His writing style was easy to follow and the use of the visual component was a clever way to write well about the subject of multisensory teaching and preaching. The use of quotes and anecdotal narratives made the imagery come alive for me. He achieves his purpose by demonstrating throughout the book how this process might look in the local church. Culturally speaking, this method would not be welcomed weekly. The African-American Church is largely shaped around the oratorical skills of the pastor and these other elements would be seen as entertainment and not be taken seriously if employed too often.

The logical arrangement of the book made following along with Blackwood easy and enjoyable. Moving from introduction of multisensory preaching through argumentation to implementation accompanied by actual examples provided clarity that not many books possess. Each step built upon the proceeding step helping with comprehension. Using repetition throughout the book made the principles memorable. There is a sense that concepts are being drilled into the head and heart of the reader because the author continues to remind us of the need to reach people in ways that make learning easy for them.

There is another way to combat boredom that happens all too often in churches today and the multisensory method offers hope. When the author calls upon the preacher or teacher to add the visual and interactive to the verbal presentation you can sense a chance for new life. The real strength of the book is that it gives practical insights and suggestions on how to grab the attention, improve their comprehension, and see greater retention among congregants. Perhaps Blackwood’s model, or other similar ones, is partly the answer to church decline.

There has been concerted effort on the part of Dr. Blackwood to woo us with the prospects of becoming multisensory communication elites but maybe the book makes claims that it cannot guarantee. Preaching is difficult enough for many when it is at Blackwood’s “simple” level but then to add other elements into the presentation could turn into a train wreck right before the people’s very eyes if things go horribly wrong. Just as this methodology is not for every church, it is also not for every preacher or teacher. Performed badly, people can walk away from the church more confused than ever especially if it is their first time in church. The greatest fear is that it would turn someone off and they might never come to church again but worse, never trust in Jesus.

On another note, if a seeker was in church for the first time and this model was carried out to perfection it might just be the spark to lead them to Christ as in the story of the epilogue. That was a very inspiring testimonial of the young man connecting to the video presentation but readers should be cautioned that not all teams are created equally. If your team is not as experienced as Christ Fellowship then the material selected could be fatal. Readers should not simply assume that it will be as easy as pulling a team together to attempt such even if they have gone through the process of getting the church prepared for the change. Things can and do happen that were never planned. This should not be the reason not to try, but be cautious.

I would recommend this book to every preacher, teacher, presenter, corporate trainer, or anyone who has to make presentations before groups of people. Dr. Blackwood taps into something that has long been overlooked or feared by people who communicate for a living. The personal stories, timely quotes, and the didactic manner in which he handles the subject makes The Power of Multisensory Preaching and Teaching a valuable resource that should be on every speaker’s shelf. This book has challenged my cultural bias and causes me to rethink what happens at Shiloh on a typical Sunday morning.