For some time critics of preaching have insisted that the sermon has tittle future and no worthy function in the emerging church. It is, they charge, an outdated form of ministry. Their cynicism seemed confirmed late in 1969, when The Pulpit, the prestigious "journal of contemporary preaching" was put to rest after forty years of distinguished service. It has been replaced by a magazine that states: "The mission of the Church requires a new style with new skills for its way out; that preaching is "old style". Searching questions are being asked about the place and form of the sermon in the community of faith.