Preaching as Practice
by Jim ~ February 26th, 2007. Tags: ministry, preaching, reviews, sermons.Recently I read an article that intrigued me, called “Preaching as Practice: Techniques to Help Your Whole Congregation Share Their Faith during Your Sermon.” It is in the most recent Congregations journal published by the excellent Alban Institute.
The basic premise of the article is that if we move to a more interactive style of preaching, the congregation will begin to realize that they too have something worthwhile to say about their faith. Such a move would make for a much more dynamic and participatory worship service as well as encourage the congregation to see that the sermon is not exclusively the work or words of the Pastor.
But of course, we all think that developing a more interactive preaching style would require a HUGE leap of faith, both for the preacher as well as for the congregation. But this Alban article says it doesn’t have to be that way. There is a logical progression of four small steps that the pastor and congregation can begin to take together:
1. Take a vote - We all know how to vote; we’re asked to do it all the time. So why shouldn’t the task of preaching also include a vote taking process to get the congregation involved: For example you could ask “Would you rather have Christmas or Easter?” Ask for and encourage a show of hands for each option. Be confident and encouraging especially if the response seems kind of weak.
2. Ask a “warm-up” question - This goes a step beyond voting. After asking for a vote about people’s preference for Easter or Christmas, you could follow up with another question “What’s your favorite part about the Christmas season?” and ask if anyone is willing to share. The questions that are asked should always serve as a lead-in to the sermon or be integral to the point you hope to make with your message.
3. Invite an action at the end of a sermon - This is kind of like an altar call, asking the congregation to respond to your sermon in a very specific way. For instance after a sermon on forgiveness I once asked the congregation to write down a confession and to bring it forward to shred in a paper shredder. Requesting a specific action moves the sermon from just a nice theoretical idea to a tangible and lived out expression of commitment.
4. Ask a question and invite the congregation to share their answers in pairs. This is the one step I’m not sure how comfortable I’d be with…a former pastor of my home church tried this one Sunday and it seemed to backfire. The basic premise is to pose a question that can be shared between two congregational memebers, however this step probably will work best in a congregation that has already broken the barriers of the other three steps.
So what do you think? Would these steps work in a congregation and would they foster engagement with the sermon material beyond the stock response of “Nice Sermon, Pastor?”
February 27th, 2007 at 4:52 pm
Depends on the size of the congregation and the history of interaction … and how much time you leave after asking a question. If you ask a question and answer it yourself, the congregates learn to not answer. If you leave it open … they begin to answer … but it might take time.
The larger the congregation, the less time for really getting the interaction you may wish. Consider the extremes. A congregation of 12-20 vs. a congregation of 2,000. With 2,000 a dozen or so might interact and the rest will watch. I guess this is where the small group Bible Studies compliment the Sunday Service.
The old Bible Study Fellowship format basically uses a small group studying and talking about the same subject (verses) covered from the large group presentation where the topics covered are reviewed from a ‘pastoral’ viewpoint but touching on topics which the small groups covered (and the presenter visited during the small group time … maybe two or three each week.)
It involves preparation before hand by the congregates, the major presenter and pre-thought application.
Part of the “let’s get involved” stuff will not work if it feels artificial and forced. Been there, done that, why are they doing this thing?
End with having the congregation break into small groups for a few minutes to discuss. what it all means personally? … also might have to get the people out of scholarly rows of looking forward to get them to interact and react with each other and then report back to the group at large.
Is the goal to get more compliments or feedback for yourself or to awaken a spiritual insight in the members?
February 27th, 2007 at 7:17 pm
Hey Joan,
Great points. I think you’re absolutely right; I can’t really see these ideas working in a congregation of more than 100 or so. And if you have a congregation with small groups already focusing on the texts then perhaps encouraging participation in a sermon is not really necessary or appropriate.
I could really care less about compliments or feedback, per se…but I do want to know that people are doing more than just listening to a sermon, then walking out and forgetting about it. I hope that they are thinking about it, talking with others about it, and asking how it might apply to their own lives.
The authors of the article (they also wrote a book I’m trying to get my hands on) suggested that these steps helped to foster spiritual conversations among the congregation during fellowship hour and at other times in church life. So folks weren’t just sitting around talking about the game they saw the other day but they were having real and significant spiritual conversations regarding the things that were bantered around during the sermon.
February 28th, 2007 at 3:39 pm
Our church had a really great thing going when we first came … 4 couples met in homes a couple times to share testimonies and supper. The people we met there we still maintain as friends. But it was a loosely structured event with guided conversation … at some point everyone was expected to share their relationship with Christ.
All of which is to say … sometimes a bit of testimony time provides opportunities for folks to note when a message hit home. Or as one pastor said, “this is like mini-sermons from each of you about how God touches your life.”
Your right …. it is good to get feed back, but after about 14 years of writing columns, I have a handful of letters (10 percent negative) and e-mails … specifically mentioning a topic in the columns. … Other than that it is the usual, “I really enjoyed ….”
I only know how much it is wanted because when I stopped for 2 months the editor received LOTS of phone calls … and he asked me to come back. Oh yes, and once they took a survey and told us how we ranked with readers.
But then … do you REALLY compliment every meal your wife makes you or your mother made you?
March 2nd, 2007 at 4:46 pm
I regularly ask for responses of words or phrases during my sermons (one congregation has 15-12, the other 100-120). I ask to congregation to help me make lists (What comes to your mind when you think about Christmas?) or say the key word in the the Biblical text I’m reading (It’s usually on the screen.). I do this to get them involved and to help me gauge their level of involvement.
May 14th, 2007 at 5:49 pm
[...] Tags:ministry, preachingA few months ago, I wrote a post about an article in “Congregations,” the Journal of the Alban Institute, called “Preaching as Practice.” Since then, I’ve been slowly working at trying to break down the barrier between the pulpit and the congregation. [...]