Hoof 'N Mouth Disease

... Edward Thorn has written an excellent manual... His sermons blend well the horizons of the Bible and the contemporary culture scape. Even pastors who never try a monologue sermon will enjoy reading this book and be enriched by the monologues.

(from the Foreword by Dr. Raymond Bailey,

former faculty member,

Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Louisville, Kentucky)



The preacher who faces weekly the difficult task of speaking to a congregation is invariably in quest of help, and not only the kind to be sought in prayer. He or she is likely to have more than passing interest in the hermeneutical issues and to appreciate whatever springs of fresh water might well up from the sources of inspiration.



The work of Dr. Ed Thorn, Hoof 'N Mouth Disease, speaks exactly to the situation of the preacher with helpful insight into the task and some very concrete instances of how to do so creatively and interestingly... Dr. Thorn is well read in communication theory and has experimented successfully with narrative preaching... in which the preacher assumes a character from the Bible and imaginatively speaks from that perspective.



The book gives abundant samples of the approach, along with some models of how to incorporate the process into more traditional sermon structures as well. These monologue sermons contain much that is both bold and provocative, humorous and stirring.

Walter P. Weaver

Chairman, Humanities Division

Florida Southern College



In a day when the laity are anxious to hear the biblical story and pastors are searching for creative ways to share the biblical story comes this delightful book of biblical monologues, Hoof 'N Mouth Disease, by Ed Thorn. It is classic.

David L. Brazelton

Superintendent, Tampa District United Methodist Church



Edward William Thorn, Ph.D., graduated from Crozer Theological Seminary and was ordained in the United Methodist Church. He served as pastor in the Southern New Jersey and Eastern Ohio conferences. While a pastor in Ohio he earned the M.A. degree in speech from Akron University. He taught speech at Chicago City College and later earned a Ph.D. in Rhetoric from Indiana University. Dr. Thorn taught at Indiana University from 1970 to 1973. Subsequently he taught in the Mass Communications department at Florida Southern College for twenty years. Since retirement in 1993 he has been the pastor of churches in Brooksville, Perry, and Plant City, Florida.