The Rev. Dr. Barbara Lundblad, Joe R. Engle Professor of Preaching Emerita at Union Theological Seminary in New York City, is the featured preacher August 6 on “Day 1” with host Peter Wallace, the nationally broadcast ecumenical radio program also accessible as a podcast and online at Day1.org. This is the final of two programs on Faith & Global Hunger, updating the acclaimed series from 2010.
Lundblad, an ordained Lutheran minister, is a graduate of Augustana College in Rock Island, Ill. She earned her M.Div. from Yale Divinity School and a D.D. from Lutheran School of Theology in Chicago. Early in her ministry, she was engaged in youth ministry in the Twin Cities of Minnesota where she currently resides. An ordained minister of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, she served 16 years as a parish pastor in New York City, as well as campus pastor at Lehman College and New York University. She has taught preaching at Yale Divinity School, Princeton Theological Seminary, Hebrew Union College, and the Association of Chicago Theological Schools. In 2007, she served as president of the Academy of Homiletics. Lundblad taught at Union Theological Seminary from 1997 to 2014. She is one of the most popular Protestant Hour and Day 1 preachers.
Lundblad’s sermon, “Who Will Feed Them? You,” is drawn from the story of the feeding of the 5,000 found in Matthew 14:13-21. “I’ve had a hard time with this sermon even though I’ve preached on this gospel many times,” she says. “This year the story seems more urgent. I keep hearing Jesus turn to me and say, ‘They need not go away, Barbara. You give them something to eat’.”
Lundblad has published numerous sermons and articles in journals and collections. She is the author of two books “Transforming the Stone: Preaching through Resistance to Change” and “Marking Time: Preaching Biblical Stories in Present Tense” based on the Beecher Lectures, which she gave at Yale Divinity School. The program includes interviews with Lundblad conducted by Wallace, who is also executive producer.
“Day 1” has been broadcast every week for 72 years, formerly as “The Protestant Hour.” Featuring outstanding preachers from the mainline denominations, “Day 1” is currently distributed to more than 220 radio stations across America and overseas and via various podcast platforms. The program is produced by the Alliance for Christian Media, based in Atlanta, Ga. For more information, call toll free 888-411-Day-1 or check the program’s website, http://day1.org.