One of the problems that often rears it’s head in African American worship is when celebration is abused. Martha Simmons referred to this dynamic among some whoopers as the “dark side of Whooping.” This is when the power of whooping is used to mask a preacher who has not done his or her work to provide a solid presentation.

Last night while listening to sermons on youtube and other places, I found a preacher who was “whooping.” As we know, the whoop is one type of sermonic close used by some preachers in the African American preaching tradition. The preacher was summarizing and celebrating the truth of the message.

Celebration is an important component of preaching. This is the part of the sermon where the preacher raises up the truth of the sermon to be experienced by the people. There are many ways to do this tactically, but my study of sermons show that a very common technique is for the preacher to “celebrate the sermon.”

Preacher Should Show Enthusiasm

Can one learn to whoop? Is there a system to help anybody whoop? Rev. Jasper Williams answers this question with an unequivocal yes. He states that anyone who has been called to preach has been given by God the ability to whoop.

Many people contact me wanting a step by step method to learn to whoop, here is the outline of a method.

1. Listen to Other Whoopers

Lowell Erdahl, in the book Best Advice for Preaching, quotes someone who said, “There are two kinds of preachers–those who have to say something and those who have something to say!” A preacher gains something to say by connection to the divine through the spiritual disciplines including prayer and study.

I was listening to a preacher who tried to use a “whoop” to hide his lack of preparation. In this audio I give a few principles for whooping with integrity. If a preacher follows these principles he or she will be on the way to not just whoop, but whoop with integrity.