FEATURE
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Aaron Ajay
Ariane Sherine
My three tips for preaching are very
similar to the three pillars of comedy:
1. Practise preaching in the mirror/
fake pulpit you’ve built in your
bedroom – otherwise how will you
ever get good at it?
1. Presence. Humour is the wine that
allows your words to be digested...
especially if all you have for the
congregation are fish sandwiches.
Be aware of your congregation’s
needs in the present.
2. Preparation. Turn of phrase
or a twist of words can make
or break your message to your
congregation. Prepare not to ‘die in
the pulpit’ because it isn’t the same
as ‘dying for our sins’.
3. Timing. If you see some of your
congregation playing Candy Crush
on their phones, then it’s time to
end your sermon.
2. Pretend you’re talking to just
one person: a good friend who
understands you.
3. Write as you talk, not as you write.
I WOULD LOVE PREACHERS
TO USE MORE OF THE
TECHNIQUES THAT
COMEDIANS USE TO MOVE
OUR VERY SOULS TO A MORE
SPIRITUAL STRENGTH AND
VIBRANCY.
Arthur Mitchell
1. Please look at your listeners and
not at your notes.
2. Pause. Slow down.
3. Remember: if they look bored,
it’s because they’re bored.
Rob Thomas
1. There’s no such thing as too much
humour in a sermon. It relaxes us,
it relaxes you.
2. Don’t apologise for a joke if it
doesn’t seem to hit. Just carry on.
3. Approximately true stories from
your own life work better than prelearnt classics, even if they aren’t
technically as funny or clever,
because (a) people like real, and (b)
unless you are a talented actor, you
will deliver them better.
Bentley Browning
Bentley Browning is on tour this summer
with his comedy character Revd
Rupert Williams. He runs ‘Comedy
for Clergy’ (comedynovices.com),
a training workshop for clergy
which has been to many dioceses,
churches and the Christian
Resources Exhibition. Comedy for
Clergy has appeared on BBC
Breakfast, The One Show,
Russell Howard’s Good
News, all local BBC stations
and in most national
newspapers.