New Preacher Stories and Insights (send me yours)

On similarities between being a newscaster and being a preacher.
(Have you ever wondered if newscasters get training to be good television presenters? I did. This is a segment of a longer conversation I've been having with a student who is a television meteorologist and a new United Methodist preacher. Very interesting!)

In my experience with meteorology, there is almost an elitist attitude in the meteorology community that it is the SCIENCE that must be the focus, not the on-air work (which explains why some weather people are deadly to watch on TV...in my view.)

I have found a great parallel between what I do on TV and what I do from the pulpit.  I believe that the very best TV meteorologists are those that are able to do 3 things very well:
1.) figure out the weather (be a scientist!)
2.) draw the weather maps in a way that makes them presentable (not too
cluttered or busy!)
3.) TELL THE WEATHER STORY!  In other words, COMMUNICATE the weather
information in an understandable, and relatable manner (to do so doesn't
necessarily mean that you have to be "entertaining"....which is an important
distinction.)

To be too much of a scientist usually means you are weak with the communication, and to be too much of a communicator means you are neglecting the science (therefore your forecast is, or is perceived to be, weak or inaccurate,) and drawing insufficient maps (too busy or incomplete) is another way of diminishing the weather presentation.

I know I'm not breaking new ground here, but I think there is a close parallel to what makes someone successful in the pulpit.  It seems to me it's all about balance, with a bit more emphasis placed on the presentation compared to the other elements.
I have witnessed solid theologians from the pulpit with great messages that become completely lost by a poor presentation of the information; I have witnessed great communicators that had little to say, and I have witnessed good communicators with solid material that were not able to "create pictures" for their congregation. It seems to me that pastors that are able to balance the 3 with a slight emphasis placed on the communication piece are the most successful....and that both TV meteorologists and pastors are both involved a visual medium.

As for the network level, most networks hire agencies that supply "talent
coaches."  In fact, we have one that visits us here at W... about a couple
of times each year; she works mostly with the younger reporters.
These talent coaches would be the ones that would work with on-air folks;
especially anchors. They get extremely detailed with their work, and much of it includes the psychology of the viewer.

For example, when there are dual anchors (usually one female, one male) what
does the male anchor do when the female anchor is speaking, and visa-versa?
A talent coach will examine the nuance of body language and facial
expressions.  The talent coach will examine each person to see if the anchor
seems "engaged" with what the other anchor is saying.  Being "engaged" is
indicated by an occasional glance at the person doing the talking, rather
than "disengaging" themselves from the other anchor (thereby sending a
negative message to the audience) by never looking at their co-anchor.
Or......is the weather person pointing at the maps with their inside hand,
or outside hand?  If they use the outside hand, this forces the
weatherperson to turn away from the camera, exposing much of their back to
the audience, which is viewed as "closing themselves off" from the
audience...which is a negative.

So it isn't simply voice coaching-much of the work is geared toward body
language, learning tricks to "engage" the audience, etc.  Typically there is not much of this coaching going on in a market the size of B......  In fact, I think W... is the only station to utilize a coach; but she only comes around a couple of times a year. For bigger sized markets the coaching would be much more frequent.
 

On responding to the call to preach:

Paul: “How does one become certain of Divine direction?  How does one find the assurance to speak for God?  I don’t want to keep silent when God would have me speak, but even more do I fear to speak when God would have me keep silent.”

May (a woman who was raised in the South and who had hardly ever seen women in the pulpit growing up): “I loved preaching all three times I have had the honor and I can’t wait to do it again, though the process was excruciating every time.  I spent weeks preparing and writing each of those sermons, then stood in literal fear and trembling to deliver them, but I have never felt more alive, more ‘called’ to be anywhere in my whole life than I felt as I addressed God’s people from the pulpit.  I must preach; I simply must, and if I am to take on such a profound responsibility then I intend to be the best that I can be, because I owe it to the people who come to hear the word of God, and because the God I serve deserves no less.

Jack: "Preaching preparation is exhilarating, but also exhausting.  I feel like I just barely got this stuff done.  Part of this is simply my current life situation, with school and work and family, but I suspect my life will never be as peaceful as I dream.  I do not know what the specific answer i am looking for, but i do know as a future preacher, whether ordained or not, I need to preaching from a healthy place.  I need to take care of myself.  I am writing this down to remind myself of this."

Jeanne (An older student who had spent a lifetime in public speaking and teaching about things she knew well, now worried that she didn’t know enough about the Bible to speak confidently):  “In reading commentaries, I have doubts of my ability to say something that no one else has said.  Who am I to give an interpretation of a scriptural passage to a congregation?  Some of those in the congregation have a far better understanding and knowledge of the Bible than I will ever have.  How can I be creative and inspiring to them?  How can I tell them of God’s love and of God’s faithfulness?”

Susie: (participated in the preaching workshop) I took the class because I had a real fear of preaching--terror, actually. I have learned along the way that the best way to get over this kind of irrational fear is to just DO whatever it is that you are afraid of. So I did and today, I preached my sixth sermon. I have learned that a few butterflies are normal--and I am happy to say that the terror is gone. I am now completing the Episcopal Deacon Formation Program.... The real unexpected surprise for me in the ordination process has been I actually enjoy preaching--this morning, the priest at the church where I am serving as part of my mentored practice said that on the basis of the two sermons she has heard me preach, she thinks I have a gift for preaching.

Catherine:  I have recently been accepted as a preacher 'on note' within the Methodist Circuit here in South Wales, (UK) where I live. Although I am certain of a 'call to preach' I am absolutely terrified and surprised to find myself doing this. I am scared yet thrilled. As a married Mum of two primary school children - also working part-time I am going to have take my time learning the craft of preaching and letting the Holy Spirit use me.

Jackie: I would like to speak to people that do not see themselves as children of God. To show someone how they are an important part of God's plan would be a great accomplishment.

Brenda (a student who had never preached before writing this): “I am a blank slate in the whole preaching process.  I am open to the movement of the Spirit, wherever it may take me....I do not want my sermons to be academic papers.  I want my sermons to be imaginative and personal statements of faith that inspire, comfort, motivate, and allow people to wrestle with God.”

Kathy (a Unitarian Universalist minister in training): “The point of preaching, for me, is to give the listener an experience that is not just rational, not just interesting, but aesthetic and emotional, an experience that can’t be described by anything other than the experience itself.  A really good sermon is like a drug trip, or an orgasm, or a poem—you have to be there when it happens.  Hearing about it later just isn’t the same.”

Lynn (a student who has never preached before): “a sermon for me becomes a sharing of words that call forth a blessing to others.  I see every sermon as needing thankfulness to God, words that lift the gentle, but powerful voice of God out of Scripture.... I think I need to find words that have space in and around them to give the listener freedom to develop their thoughts.  I can’t be a blessing in the pulpit unless I am very aware of what is going on in the congregation.”

Paula (a self-described idealist, who wants to make the world a better place by her preaching): “For me, the goal of preaching is not about ‘giving moral or religious advice,’ it’s about motivating, about opening people to the truths of God’s word so that they may discover their own ‘Aha! Moment,’ so that they can go out and make the world a better place.”

On learning from other preachers:

Aaron: I have experienced so much bland and boring preaching in my life that learning to preach passionately and learning to convey that passion to the congregation is another of my goals.

Roxanne (in an interview with her preaching mentor): He started by telling me how when he was first out of seminary he would write his sermons at three o'clock in the morning the night before he would preach on Sunday.  This surprised me of course because I thought I was the only last minute slacker.  Still he told me that after about the first year he realized he could not live that way and he began working on his sermons in a very systematic way. On Monday he would explore his texts take his notes stay open to the meaning.  On Tuesday he would read more source material, look at commentaries, explore other people's ideas by Wednesday he would begin a rough draft and by Friday he would have a final draft.  He told me that he would reward himself by going out to get pizza on Friday nights when he was finished.  I think rewarding myself when I finish writing the sermon is a great idea.

Roxanne (upon learning that her mentor also has dyslexia): My dyslexia is something that makes me nervous when I am preaching.  With dyslexia I am always afraid I am going to turn my words around and say things backwards.  Now here was the one minister I admire the most in the entire world telling me that he lives with the same learning difference.  I sighed and my mentor asked, "Did you have any other Learning differences?"  I said "Oh yeah, I am ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder)."  He laughed and said, "I am ADD (attention deficit disorder)." "Oh," I said "and I had a speech impediment when I was a kid." And he said, "Yeah me too until I was about in fourth grade." And I smiled and said, "Me too."

A United Methodist lay preacher:  “I don’t like it when I see a minister up there who is telling a story from personal experience but reading it from the page; it strikes me as somewhat false; I keep a manuscript up there but I don’t read it—especially when talking about a personal experience.  I’m trying to get down to just having salient points and then to do away with notes completely.

On Preaching for the First Time

Jackie: My first sermon was during a worship service that included a healing service. This was the first healing service this congregation had ever experienced and just the term healing was greeted with suspicion and visions of televangelist showmanship. The fact that this was my first sermon gave me the opportunity to talk about stepping outside our comfort zones. I used the story of my days as a left handed little girl playing Babe Ruth Baseball with much larger boys. Our goal that day was not to hit a homerun--we could not heal people, only God can do that. Our goal was to just hit the ball--pray for one another and, if needed carry, each other to Jesus. I took the opportunity to be vulnerable in a way I'm not sure an experienced preacher would have been allowed. This is still my favorite sermon because it was just very real and honest.

Todd: A lay member of a small church who is an environmental activist was asked to preach once by the pastor during a series of sermons on Christian stewardship of the earth.  He has been all over the U.S. on speaking tours and considers himself an accomplished public speaker.  “When I have to do a press conference or if I’m going to speak at a rally or on the steps of the capital,” he said, “I usually do a mental outline of what I will say on the drive over.  It’s so important to connect with the audience that I don’t want to be burdened by a lot of reading.”  But Todd felt less sure of his knowledge of the Bible than he did about his environmentalism work, and speaking in the church made him feel more restrained, even anxious.  So he took fifteen hours writing out his manuscript and delivered it pretty much word for word: “I had never spoken in the church before, and wanted to be sure to be sensitive to the diversity in the congregation.”  He knew that there were some more traditional members of the congregation who would disagree with the stance he was taking so that it was important to say things with care.  At the coffee hour afterwards, he was especially pleased that these very people came up to him to tell him how much they appreciated his sermon.  Overall, it was a good experience, and he hopes to have a chance to preach again, perhaps even suggest a yearly series of sermons by members of the congregation.  He added, “I am proud of my minister that she is secure enough to let folks from the congregation like me preach.”

John: My very first sermon was a few weeks after 911. I was asked to speak on Lay Sunday, as our Pastor was attending the UUC conference, one week before 911. As I prepared for the service, there were three different texts I found inspiration from. As I went to bed that Saturday night, I had four different sermons prepared for Sunday morning, all of which followed the suggested texts from the UCC for Lay Sunday. As I stepped to the pulpit Sunday morning, none of them felt right.  For two weeks I listened to the horror of 911 and the various reactions to that event as I prepared for my sermon. I watched as our nation prepared for war. Three things bothered me. First, that so many people could not understand what would motivate someone to do such an evil deed; second, that we could so easily dismiss God’s response to the evil; and third, that we could so easily ignore what Jesus calls us to do in the face of such evil. The message I delivered came to me with such clarity that my emotions were overwhelmed. I knew it was a message from God that I felt I was in a unique position to deliver. And I knew with final clarity that this is what God was calling me to do.

 

On receiving sermon feedback:

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