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What I’ ve learnt THE WISDOM OF A SEASONED PREACHER
In my late teens, when training to be a Methodist local preacher, I had never been let loose on a larger congregation. But the day eventually arrived and as I anxiously approached the significant congregation to lead worship with the steward at my side, I indicated to him I was very nervous, to which came his reply‘ You, nervous? It’ s we, young man, who should be nervous of you!’
So, seriously, what have I learnt about preaching in the subsequent fifty years?
Preparation
It is said of one academically gifted vicar that once out of his curacy, he wrote a sermon for each week of the three-year lectionary and simply repeated them every three years for the rest of his ministry! For me they need to be fresh each time. May I continue to develop and interpret the Scriptures with greater clarity to further simulate and challenge the congregation in my preaching.
I have also heard of a minister who bought his sermons from an American website. I could never do that for my message has to be from me. I need to be stimulated through my prayers and study, in order that the gospel I share is real and alive in me and this allows for me to communicate that personal gospel to my hearers.
One of my tutors at theological college told me to read aloud my exegeses before submission. It was a great idea, as it resulted in fewer errors and higher marks! But seriously I still read aloud my sermons at my PC and amend to avoid unnecessary duplication, to give impact, clarity and to ensure a logical progression of the construction.
Presentation
If you can stand it, why not switch on the BBC Parliament channel and listen to a full debate? If you do you will see those MPs who give a logical and developed argument, those that give inadequate justification for their contribution, and those who drone on and on until their arguments are lost! Food for thought for our preaching?
Our means of presentation is critical. Whether we hold an iPad or paper notes, a full sermon or bullet points, if our head is directed at the text and not at the congregation, it will look like what it is, that we are reading it! Let us look regularly at the congregation, directing our gaze each time to a different area of that congregation, even if reading from an autocue.
The introduction: if applied it needs to arrest attention, be it humour, an illustration, a challenge or a story, yet it needs to be brief.
The setting: if there is one, it needs to be explained clearly, so the congregation may grasp that setting. Let us be careful with modern-day comparisons.
The exegesis: this is the meat of the sermon. Sufficient to relish, but not so much to stuff! May we make it meaningful, understandable, with progressive logic, and if possible limited to three arching points.
The application: Some, like my mentor, may feel they could never put forward an application to those listening. If we do, and I usually do, may we speak always in the inclusive,‘ we’ and never as‘ you’, so we may be recognised as including ourselves as well as our hearers to heed, to be challenged or apply to our lives? And above all may we engage and smile where appropriate! After all, we are of the congregation!
Having said all this, following my retirement from parish ministry, Christine and I arrived at a neighbouring church with the intention of‘ being in the pews’ to discover the priest had not turned up, and I was requested to immediately preside. I agreed reluctantly, for there was no time for preparation for any part of the service, including the sermon. Following my peroration some members of the congregation said it was the best sermon they had ever heard. Thanks be to God!
Revd Priestly Brook
Revd Priestly Brook, an Anglican priest, retired in August 2012 from the Colne and Villages Team Ministry in East Lancashire. His bishop granted him a licence of Permission to Officiate. He is married to Christine, with six grown-up children. He is a well- known preacher and after-dinner speaker in the north of England.