Thinking About Preaching
I continue to struggle with my preaching. Oh, I think I jump through the hoops okay on Sunday morning. The comments are good. People are nice. Folks seem to be inspired by what I’m saying. Within my tradition and location, I’m a pretty decent preacher I think.
And yet, I feel like something is lacking. Part of that comes from the knowledge that far too often I’m pulling something out of my hat on Saturday night. Yes, I have thought about the text through the week (the preacher’s standard excuse for procrastination). And I’ve gotten pretty good at working under pressure. But somehow, I still don’t feel like I have the authenticity and conversationality that I want to see in preaching. My desire is to move away from presenting a message to telling a story.
There is also a part of me that longs for the type of service that some of my more conservative brethren have which allows for longer sermons, more focused on teaching. Yet, I still believe that the average person struggles with paying attention for longer than 20 minutes unless they are actively involved.
It’s late, and I can’t function any longer. More about preaching later.
Only Wonder Understands 