Preach Magazine Issue 4 - Preaching in the digital age | Page 41

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41

What I’ve learnt
THE WISDOM OF A SEASONED PREACHER

Angela Davis was
born in Somerset in
1939 just as the Second
World War broke out,
so she was sent to live
with her grandparents
in St Ives, Cornwall
where her Christian
faith was nurtured by
the Methodist church.
She has been a local
preacher for 55 years.
After training as a
teacher she worked and
preached in Somerset,
Warwickshire and
Cornwall. She and her
husband retired to St
Austell, where Angela
is part of the team who
train the Methodist
local preachers.

W

hen I became a local preacher in
the Bristol South Circuit in 1960,
it was a solo effort, and it would
have been unheard of for me
to ask any member of the congregation
to help with the service. I would never
have used any prayers from a book
but I composed my own and prayed
extempore. There was also no lectionary
to follow so choosing the readings
formed the first port of call when the
germ of an idea for the sermon came to
me. All these things have been re-thought
over the years, and preachers of every
age need to be adaptable, remembering
that we go to the congregation as its
servant not its master.

I feel it is important that everybody
should work ecumenically. All Christians
should be open-minded, generous,
non-judgemental folk who are willing to
change, grow and allow the Holy Spirit
to blow us out of our seats in church
and serve the world as we spread the
good news of God’s love for everyone.
This means that we are glad to use
the congregation to read the
lessons and help with the
prayers and we encourage
them to participate
fully in the life and
worship of the
church.
Prayers need to be as
carefully prepared
as the sermon; we
are not there to
tell God what he
already knows, so
we do not need
to include details
about the world
situations but we bring
to him the concerns of our hearts
about the world, our own locality and

our loved ones. We end our prayers
of intercession with petition where
we pray for a deeper love and greater
concern and more positive action
for the people and situations that we
have prayed for.
A very wise minister once told
me about the ABC of preaching:
audibility, brevity and clarity – speak
up, explain what needs to be said, and
then finish! This is what I have always
tried to stick to.
If, as you read this, you are just
starting out on your journey as a
preacher, I can promise you hard
work, some frustration and on a
Sunday, sometimes an attack of
nerves! But I also promise you deep
peace and joy, mixed with amazement
that God has entrusted his message
to the likes of you and me!