The Art of Preaching
Preaching is hard.
Yeah, yeah, I hear all you non-preachers out there playing your little “world smallest violins.” But it really is hard. The reasons are numerous, but maybe I should enumerate them:
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You can’t please all the people all the time.
Sometimes the things you have to say are hard for people to hear.
Sometimes you get to Sunday morning, and there’s no inspiration.
Coming up with something fresh, over and over, is difficult.
Sometimes life gets in the way of spending time on your sermon.
And while it’s good to go hear other preachers for inspiration, it’s really difficult to get better at preaching. It’s an art. Education helps. But what we really need is a preaching coach.
One of the biggest questions I ask preachers is, “How do you tell if you’ve given a good sermon?” Some will talk about the response after the sermon, at the door, as people are filing past the preacher. However, I find this time to be awkward. People don’t know what to say to the preacher as they’re passing her. The only way that I really count the, “Good sermon, preacher” as people walk through the receiving line, is if they say, “I loved it when you said, ‘XYZ.’ That got me where I needed it.”
Others will talk about just feeling a response. When you use humor and emotional stories, sometimes you can tell that folks are connecting with your sermon. Sometimes you see tears. Sometimes, people fall asleep. Sometimes in the same sermon.
The most lasting way I judge sermons is this:
If someone contacts me about the sermon later in the week, or someone references it the next week or so. When the words really hit home, people remember them.
July 6th, 2009 at 2:39 pm
Yes, I would agree. I’m glad when people go away with a feeling of almost any kind, though, better than flat neutrality!
July 6th, 2009 at 2:42 pm
In my little church, we have a talk-back time after the sermon. Everyone talks just a little bit. Then I seem to know if it hits home. Especially if they don’t agree!
July 6th, 2009 at 6:51 pm
I’ve thought before that preaching must be hard! Kind of in the same way I’ve thought writing a newspaper column must be hard. Basically anything where you have to write something at a set interval (once a week, once every other week, etc.) and you’re expected to produce something whether inspiration strikes or not, seems VERY tough to me. I have massive respect for the people who do it!
July 13th, 2009 at 11:31 am
I think we put a too much emphasis on preaching and teaching in the church – I think more emphasis should be on learning in community – maybe we should only meet in a large group to worship together and we should always be together in smaller groups to learn with and from each other. I think the position of preacher/teacher sets up some very unhealthy dynamics – for preachers and for the ones being preached to. After being in church every Sunday for most of my life I have come to feel this way. So I guess I am thinking that whether the sermon is good or not is the wrong question to be asking – I think we should be asking if a sermon is the best way to help people grow spiritually.
Here’s an idea that just popped in my head – maybe we should only have a sermon once a quarter…there could be a big special gathering once a quarter that included a sermon. Maybe sermons should be more like special events rather than weekly events.
What do you think?
July 13th, 2009 at 11:47 am
The irony, there, Amber, is that you write so much!
Liz, you are probably right in the way preaching sets up a teacher/learner dichotomy. It sure doesn’t help with the way the churches put their preachers on a pedestal. However, it is a model for theological learning that has been with us for a long time.
July 13th, 2009 at 12:22 pm
Lia – It has been a place a long time. Do you think it is worth challenging?
July 13th, 2009 at 7:16 pm
I love designing and leading worship. I also LOVE that our congregation has 6-8 folks who are occasionally willing to preach. It is good for community members to share that responsibility and their stories. After a particularly effective stewardship moment for mission, I said to Linda, “You should consider preaching sometime.” “No, no” she protested. “I think you have something to say,” I said suggestively. After a pause, she responded, “Yeah, I do. I do have something to say.”
The hard part for me is getting very little immediate feedback from very reserved upper midwestern, small town folk. Although I marvel at the work of G-d when I leave the sanctuary thinking, “whew, that stunk!” And inevitably, someone will stop me and say, “Wow, that was just what I needed to hear.” what the…?
July 13th, 2009 at 7:18 pm
Susan, my congregation is made up of introverts. And even still, we have lots of “talk back.”
But I love those moments when they get what they need to hear. Proof, to me, that the Holy Spirit rocks!