You Teach / You Learn

I recently taught Process Preaching to a group of Mennonite pastors in Ohio. Here are some things that I learned.

1. During an individual session with one of the pastors I noticed that the very first time through the first chunk of his sermon he was amazingly fluent. He did not have to consult his notes for the entire section. For some reason I asked him to do it a second time even thought he seemed to have it down pretty well and I was amazed by what happened. During his second run through he was much more animated and expressive. He was no longer having to think so much about what came next and he was able to focus on the meaning and purpose of his words in a much more personal way.

This experience helped me see that fluency and not having to read our manuscripts is not the only reason for doing the run throughs. After two or three run throughs we are able to preach our sermons with much more spirit and enthusiasm. I believe this is because we are not so worried about what comes next and can focus on the meaning of what we are saying better.

2. The pastor who I was working with when I noticed this has been preaching his sermons freely but more or less in an impromptu way. His method is to write out a manuscript and then do some thinking about it and after reading through it a couple of times getting up and pretty much winging it, relying on the tremendous power and inspiration of the moment of preaching. He was excited about what oral rehearsal would mean to his future preaching. In our individual sessions he was amazed by how much more confident and less fearful he was after a couple of run throughs. When he preached for the class he was relaxed and was able to put himself totally into his sermon.

Working with this pastor reminded me that Process Preaching and the oral rehearsal process can be of great benefit to those who have been preaching in various impromptu ways.

3. Early on in the seminar one of the students asked if there was any proof that preaching freely was more effective than reading sermon manuscripts? It was a very good question and I had to admit that there has been little or no research in this area that I am aware of. I believe that the difference in comprehension by a congregation listening to a pastor preaching freely and someone reading a manuscript is categorical. However, surveys need to be done in the field before it can be said that there is proof.

4. The pastor who organized this seminar said that after he took the course at Spirit in the Desert retreat center in Arizona last winter he returned and started writing purpose statements for his sermons a month in advance. He said that he gives his purpose statements to his worship leaders and others involved in planing the Sunday morning services and they are able to support the theme and purpose of the sermon with music selections etc.