During my sabbatical I plan to spend time at the Union Theological Seminary Library in New York City reading its microfilmed sermons and writings of National Radio Pulpit commentator Ralph Sockman, as well as its microfilmed sermons and writings of Riverside Church pastor Harry Emerson Fosdick. I also plan to spend time at the Library of Congress reading its microfilmed sermons and writings of Rev. Peter Marshall, as well as in St. Louis reviewing the Lutheran Hour sermons of Walter Maier.

I will focus my readings on sermons preached and presentations made shortly after Kristallnacht’s 1938 violence directed at German Jews, as well as shortly after the Federal Council of Churches’ 1938 statement on “the virtual massacre of Jews.” If I have time, I will also examine sermons preached in 1945 after the liberation of European death camps.

After finishing my research on American sermonic responses to the persecution of European Jews, I plan to spend time reflecting on and writing about them. I envision submitting my findings to theological, preaching and historical journals and magazines.