This issue—filled with Spirit-led articles and sermons from gifted colleagues— brings to conclusion the 49th year of Journal for Preachers. In a time of significant cultural and ecclesial shifts and challenges, we work to bring you JP in the firm conviction that the voices curated in these pages are crucial and their wisdom ever more needed. Entering our 50th year, Journal for Preachers will initiate several changes, as we seek to continue nurturing a conversation about vital and faithful preaching.

This issue is the last that will appear in print. Starting in the fall, we will send you a digital edition that will look very much like what you hold in your hands now. Rising printing and postage costs—along with the implications of tariffs—have made it impossible to continue producing a print journal at any reasonable price point. This shift will also bring an enhanced website and the possibility of occasional special digital editions. Please ensure we have your correct email address, as the Advent 2026 issue will be delivered electronically. If you’re unsure, contact our subscription office using the information on the masthead.

Thanks to generous grants that The Ministry Collaborative has received, focused on preaching and on sharing the Christian story, we will be able to offer Journal for Preachers to all subscribers at no cost for at least the next four years. We hope that this special opportunity will, in turn, encourage subscribers to share the resources offered freely with colleagues and friends. (Please note: if you have a multi-year subscription, please use the masthead subscription information to contact us, and we will be happy to offer a prorated refund.)

Jessica Patchett, who has served as the journal’s editor with such focus and imagination, is stepping away from the role to tend to a new call at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Minneapolis and a newborn child. I am deeply grateful to Jessica for her fruitful and energetic collaboration over these past several years.

We are pleased and fortunate to welcome Ryan Bonfiglio as our new editor. At Emory’s Candler School of Theology, Ryan serves as Associate Professor in the Practice of Old Testament and Executive Director of The Candler Foundry, an initiative that bridges the gap between church and academy by making seminary-level learning accessible and engaging for congregations, communities, and the broader public. As a member of the team at The Ministry Collaborative, Ryan also leads international immersion experiences to Greece and Israel/Palestine designed to inspire and enrich the preaching ministries of pastors in TMC’s network. Ryan brings to JP years of experience working with congregations across a wide range of theological traditions and a deep passion for supporting and training pastors as they strive toward preaching that is creative, biblically rooted, and theologically responsive to the most pressing questions of the communities they serve. (Ryan is also from Philadelphia, so time that would otherwise be spent rooting for Philly sports teams can be poured into JP as those teams regularly fall out of contention early each season …)

In a multi-layered essay that anchors this edition, Tom Long observes, echoing Willie Jennings, that “Pentecost did not emerge from our moral imagination but from God’s unpredictable will.” Each contribution here seeks to amplify that truth. Pentecost is our invitation to receive, grapple with, and be emboldened by the work of the Holy Spirit. With the help of the sermons and articles in this issue, I hope we will all be better equipped to respond to the question Tom raises: “Where is the untamable wind of the Spirit taking us now?”