Preaching as Practice

By Jim Bonewald

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?”

[Originally posted on the church geek]