The year 2018 marks the 50th anniversary of the death of Karl Barth. In the 20th century the great theologian had a significant impact on the church and theology in Germany and beyond. His commentary on the Epistle to the Romans, published in 1919, made his critical approach known to the public. This phase of his Dialectical Theology includes also two articles from 1922 that are reproduced here, with a commentary by the well-known systematic theologian Dietrich Korsch for use in church and school: Need and Promise of the Christian Proclamation and The Word of God as a Task of Theology. They address the situation of proclamation as constuting the focus of worship and the implications for theology. They show how the religious situation challenges theology and they are helpful for taking responsibility for the Christian faith in personal life.