Illocutionary Acts Found in Pastor Steven Furtick’s Sermons

Abstract

This study examines the illocutionary acts in Pastor Steven Furtick's sermons, focusing on three selected sermons: Cover the Spread, God's Got Your Back, and Unschedulable Blessing. This study used content analysis, employing a set of procedures, which involved reading the transcriptions of the selected three sermon videos from 2020 to 2023, identifying and classifying illocutionary acts, and using formulas to calculate the dominant types and functions. This study identified five types of illocutionary acts present in Steven's utterances, which revealed 4 assertive functions (44%), including asserting (11%), informing (32%), stating (1%), and clarifying (1%) with a total of 52 data. I n addition, 6 directive functions (42%) were observed, including asking (22%), commanding (8%), advising (8%), suggesting (2%), forbidding (1%), and requesting (1%), totaling 49 data. One commissive function (promising) was found in 5% of the data, with a total of 6 data. Expressive functions, such as liking (1%), agreeing (1%), hoping (3%), apologizing (1%), and expressing belief (2%), totaled 8 data. Finally, the declaration function (stating) is present in 2% of the data, with two data. The findings cont ribute to our understanding of how Pastor Steven Furtick uses various linguistic strategies in his sermons. It gives insight into how the pastor communicate effectively in religious context , focusing on the various illocutionary acts he uses for powerful e xpression and engagement with his listeners.