Interview : William Wade
We ’ re delighted to have William Wade , Minister of Life Church in Cuffley , Hertfordshire as our interviewee this issue . Many will recognise William as our winner of Sermon of the Year 2020 . Since then he has gone on to inspire many with his remarkable journey from a troubled life to a life in God ’ s service .
1 : What do you enjoy most about preaching ?
I preach without notes , as I memorise the sermon from Monday to Friday of the working week . I do this for the sense of liberty I experience on a Sunday morning going into the church building , knowing that I have memorised a sermon that can still have the flexibility of being led by the Spirit in whichever way the Spirit would like to take it . The high point of each sermon for me is that final five or ten minutes , where you can sense that God is clearly speaking to people and there is a tangible presence of God in the room . Those final five or ten minutes for me are all about application . This is where the sermon gets very real with people and that is what I most look forward to each Sunday .
2 : Which preacher has been the greatest influence on you and why ?
I would say that Greg Haslam , former Minister at Westminster Chapel , had the most profound effect on my own preaching . When I was a missionary to British Forces in Germany , I would be sent cassette tapes ( in the early 2000s ) of Greg preaching . It was thoroughly biblical , deeply relevant and laden with fantastic illustrations . I got to know Greg well in those years on a personal level and that was a real joy . I should also mention Paul Reid , Pastor Emeritus of Christian Fellowship Church , Belfast , for his prophetic teaching influence on my own ministry and also Neil Loxley , Pastor of Kingsland Church in Colchester , for his relaxed , yet theologically punchy style .
3 : What do you see as the most significant challenge for preachers ?
Aside from maintaining biblical truth in an age where it is being challenged at almost every turn , I would make a plea for preachers to display life when they are preaching . I do feel that with
William Wade
some training institutions and colleges , there is often a ‘ cookie-cutter ’ approach to preaching , which highlights homiletics to the point of squeezing individual character out of preachers . For a preacher to be constrained by form and preaching etiquette that does not set the preacher free to be themselves under the anointing of God is unconscionable . Perhaps one of the reasons I chose Greg Haslam , Paul Reid and Neil Loxley as influences on my own ministry is because they display ( ed ) life as they preach ( ed ). They came alive and in turn they were able to bring life to their hearers . A sermon delivered in a boring manner is never going to raise the unchurched out of bed early on a Sunday morning . But a preacher on fire just might .
4 : What do you see as the most important piece of work that LWPT and other charities can do to support preachers ?
I would say doing something like this … giving regular ( not celebrity ) preachers a voice to share their thoughts and opinions on your platform . Hear from preachers struggling ( or thriving ) on housing estates ; hear from preachers ministering in smaller churches ; hear from preachers who will never speak at the big conferences ; hear from preachers who may be from different streams within the wider Church .
5 : What advice do you have to those starting a life in ministry ?
Carve out a devotional rhythm and stick to it – your soul needs it ; be free in your gifting and don ’ t become a ‘ professional ’; have friends around you who can speak into your life ; live for an audience of one and don ’ t be tempted by the ‘ celebrity Christian culture ’; devote yourself to the Word and prayer .
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