Participation Type
Paper
Presentation #1 Title
"Saturation Coverage": Technology and Billy Graham's Sermonic Success
Presentation #1 Abstract
Scholars and critics have never touted Billy Graham as a master of the preaching art, and yet no one can deny that Graham's career as an orator, which spanned 70 countries, seven decades, and attracted millions of listeners, meets some standards of rhetorical success. This presentation attempts to explain the disjunction between critical appraisal and general acclaim by analyzing the technologically mediated blitz of Graham-related content that typically preceded Graham's appearance at the pulpit. This media blitz attempted to obtain what Graham biographer Grant Wacker calls "saturation coverage" of the host city in which Graham preached. The power of Graham's sermons is due in large part to his vigorous use of technology.
At-A-Glance Bios- Presenter #1
Curry Kennedy is a PhD candidate in English at the Pennsylvania State University, where he studies the relationship between rhetoric and religion. His dissertation focuses on the interanimation of rhetorical education and religious practice in Early Modern England He has published articles on the sermonic rhetoric of John Milton's Areopagitica and the theological stylistics of Ralph Waldo Emerson.
Recommended Citation
Kennedy, Curry W., ""Saturation Coverage": Technology and Billy Graham's Sermonic Success." Paper presented at the Conference on Sermon Studies: "Presentations," , October 2022.
https://mds.marshall.edu/sermon_conference/2022/presentations/3
"Saturation Coverage": Technology and Billy Graham's Sermonic Success
Scholars and critics have never touted Billy Graham as a master of the preaching art, and yet no one can deny that Graham's career as an orator, which spanned 70 countries, seven decades, and attracted millions of listeners, meets some standards of rhetorical success. This presentation attempts to explain the disjunction between critical appraisal and general acclaim by analyzing the technologically mediated blitz of Graham-related content that typically preceded Graham's appearance at the pulpit. This media blitz attempted to obtain what Graham biographer Grant Wacker calls "saturation coverage" of the host city in which Graham preached. The power of Graham's sermons is due in large part to his vigorous use of technology.
