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Apreacher is a person who deliverssermons orhomilies onreligious topics to an assembly of people. Less common are preachers whopreach on the street, or those whose message is not necessarily religious, but who preach components such as a moral or socialworldview orphilosophy.
Preachers are common throughout most cultures. They can take the form of aChristianminister on a Sunday morning, or an Islamicimam. A Muslim preacher in general is referred to as adā‘ī, while one giving sermons on a Friday afternoon is called akhatib.
The sermon or homily has been an important part of Christian services since Early Christianity, and remains prominent in bothRoman Catholicism andProtestantism.Lay preachers sometimes figure in these traditions of worship, for example theMethodist local preachers, but in general preaching has usually been a function of theclergy. TheDominican Order is officially known as theOrder of Preachers (Ordo Praedicatorum inLatin);friars of this order were trained to publicly preach invernacular languages, and the order was created bySaint Dominic to preach to theCathars of southern France in the early thirteenth century. TheFranciscans are another important preaching order; Travelling preachers, usually friars, were an important feature of late medieval Catholicism.
In most denominations, modern preaching is kept below about 40 minutes, but historic preachers of all denominations could at times speak for well over an hour, sometimes for two or three hours,[citation needed] and use techniques ofrhetoric and theatre that are today somewhat out of fashion in mainline churches.
In many churches in the United States, the titlepreacher is synonymous withpastor orminister, and the church's minister is often referred to simply as "our/the preacher" or by name such as "Preacher Smith".[citation needed]
Preacher is also the supposed author of the Book ofEcclesiastes. Preacher is one translation of theHebrew wordקהלת (Qoheleth). There is much debate about the identity of this preacher; many believe it isSolomon.[1]
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