Richard (Dick) Eslinger

Biography

Dr. Richard L. Eslinger is Emeritus Professor of Worship and Homiletics at United Theological Seminary, Dayton, Ohio.  Ordained in the United Methodist Church, he earned his Ph.D. in Theology from Boston University.  Richard is a scholar-pastor who has served in a variety of contexts, including campus ministry, urban and rural congregations, and the national worship office of the UMC.   He is a lively teacher of preaching and liturgy, an author, and a passionate mentor and leader in theological education and spiritual formation.  In 2012, he received the highest honor of the American Academy of Homiletics, the Lifetime Achievement Award.  His books on preaching include A New Hearing: Living Options in Homiletic Method; Narrative and Imagination: Preaching the Worlds that Shape Us; The Web of Preaching: Living Options in Homiletic method; and Preaching and the Holy Mystery: The Eucharist as Context and Resource for Proclamation. His current project is an ecumenical introduction to preaching, Practicing Proclamation.  He and his spouse Elise moved in 2015 to their retirement home in the Tennessee foothills of the Smoky Mountains, their “Chalet Shalom.” They are active in the parish of St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church in Maryville, TN.