Surrey where he worked as a software engineer for about ten years before returning to his roots in Devon . For him it is great to be back by the sea and he now works for a social care organisation and enjoys the technical and creative side of producing videos and animations .
Ian has been a local preacher in the Methodist Church for around six years . Preaching isn ’ t something he imagined he ’ d be doing , but through the encouragement of others he was gently nudged to explore it and he found great truth in the statement that where God calls , he also equips . Ian hopes to continue to grow in experience through preaching in the local churches .
What inspired you to enter SOTY and what would you say to those thinking about entering next year ?
This is the fourth time I ’ ve entered the Sermon of the Year competition . For those who preach regularly it offers a challenge because you don ’ t know anything about the readers and can ’ t assume any local knowledge . For anyone who has never preached before it is a great opportunity to ‘ dip a toe in the water ’ and you might discover it is something you want to explore further .
Katharine Crew
Katharine is 30 and works at Union Chapel Church as their Social Justice and Community Outreach Worker . She lives in Harpenden , Hertfordshire and was recently accredited as a Methodist Local Preacher in the West Hertfordshire and Borders Circuit . The circuit contains a range of churches from larger town centre churches to smaller village chapels , and includes her home church , High Street Methodist Church , Harpenden .
Katharine began preaching as a teenager in her circuit ’ s Youth Worship Team , where she loved the encouragement of knowing her perspective was valued . After not preaching while at university , she felt its absence from her life and began to explore her call to preach . She is particularly keen to bring underrepresented voices into her services , and to encourage other people to explore a call to preach so that a broad range of perspectives are heard . In her spare time Katharine enjoys dancing , acting , and learning Welsh .
What inspired you to enter SOTY and what would you say to those thinking about entering next year ?
I ’ ve been following the Sermon of the Year competition for years now and my favourite thing about this competition is that I get to read / hear sermons from people I otherwise wouldn ’ t have heard from . To me a joy of preaching is that God uses us to preach . God could inspire every preacher to preach the exact same sermon , but God chooses not to . Instead God uses our gifts , knowledge and experiences to add to our sermons . So each new preacher I hear offers me an insight to God that only they can bring .
We face a real problem in the Church if we only hear sermons from narrow perspectives - particularly those who have been traditionally privileged . There ’ s been so many times I ’ ve sat in church frustrated because women have been erased or because I don ’ t understand the sermon illustrations which are before my time . The joy I feel at relating to a sermon or learning from a new perspective , reminds me how valuable it is that everyone is encouraged to preach .
To those thinking of entering next year I ’ d say go for it . Sermon of the Year celebrates the art of preaching and recognises that each person can teach us something - whether they ’ ve been preaching for decades or its their first sermon . Your words are important and we want to hear from you !
Watch the Sermon of the Year Final and get a FREE bonus !
Register in advance to watch the final of Sermon of the Year and we ’ ll send you a digital copy of this year ’ s Top Ten Sermons book . Register for FREE at
www . preachweb . org / final . The final will be broadcast on YouTube at 7:00pm on Thursday 23 June . Make it a date in your diary !
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