Preaching One Year Into the Pandemic
As the U.S. comes to the end of its first year managing the pandemic, I hear frustration among preachers with each other. The source of tension? A disagreement about the best ratio between preaching lament and joy. To all preachers everywhere, I say: Yes. There is the need for lament, and there is the need for joy. And if we’re not sure about the best ratio, and if we’re feeling a little suspicious of our colleagues who tip a bit more toward one side than the other, then our parishioners are probably feeling the same way about each other—and us.
This Lent, there's only what’s in front of us
In our shrunken worlds with fewer distractions, we can be re-membered by God, reminded that it doesn’t matter what the project is, because all there is is what’s in front of us. Whether we serve in that moment to stitch together a prayer or an alternate-reality Ash Wednesday service or a humble email to confirm an appointment, there is only one thing: to serve.
Seeing the Bigger Picture: A Guest Post by The Rev'd Dr. Kenyatta Gilbert
“How you see yourself and read your Bible will dictate your politics. As you consider how to frame sermons from a justice-oriented Christian perspective… I want to [offer] with three message-crafting strategies for helping you and your listeners to see the big picture exegetically and hermeneutically.”
Preaching Ash Wednesday: 8 suggestions for preaching repentance and (avoidable) death
On this Ash Wednesday, not only is there our usual grief and fear about death, there is also anger and resentment. Not to mention shame and guilt from those who may realize too late they’ve contributed to the demise of others. We must acknowledge our unusual circumstances this year and invite people to grieve, confess, and make amends.
For the Love of Preaching: Sermon Prep Pandemic-Style (3rd in a 4-Week Series)
While we’re building the kingdom of God, however, most of us in the West “drink the kool-aid” of the productivity-equals-success/respect/love poison our society ladles out for us during our construction breaks. Even though the drink tastes bitter, and we say the Church is in the world and not of it, and we say we hate the stuff, we preachers keep going back and holding out our cups for refills.
While we drink, we look with dismay at that partially constructed kingdom and see all the work left to be done. So we double our efforts, squeezing more tasks into the cracks of time, adding a patch here, pouring cement there, but seemingly to no avail. Because the work is never done and the task lists only seem to grow larger. And that’s in a non-pandemic year.
For the Love of Preaching: Scripture is More than a Tool (1st in a 4-Week Series)
Now that 2020 is actually over, are you feeling full of renewed energy, ready to preach in 2021? No? Me neither. To counteract our preaching “blues,” I’ve created a four-week series to help us all rediscover and relish the craft of preaching again. Each week will offer a reflection and experiences, exercises, or tools for you to engage and apply. I hope you’ll join us this week in rediscovering scripture as the font and source of our being rather than just a means to an end (a sermon).
For the Love of Preaching: We *Get* to Preach (2nd in a 4-week Series)
There may never have been a more difficult time in our lifetimes to minister in God’s name when many listeners actively seek fault, agendas, or flat-out disagree with sharing Christ’s love with all. That makes for a stressful ministry environment. All the more reason to remind yourself of the extraordinary blessing it is that we get to do this work.
Recovering from 2020: Your Free, At-Home Christmas Retreat
“This retreat will not completely fill your tank, assuage your exhaustion, or provide a clear path of hope for the future. But it will, I pray, provide a theological and spiritual framework to what you have endured, witnessed, and felt this past year. By God's grace we will minister in 2021 with an open heart, confident that God will continue to provide all we need to preach, minister, and lead. This, too, shall pass. And in the meantime, people need Good News.”
Three Christmas Sermon Themes for a Pandemic Christmas
It probably feels hard to keep the “merry” in “Merry Christmas” this year. We will miss so many of the usual Christmas traditions. While it is right to grieve, it is also right to find unexpected blessings in our stripped-down celebrations of the Incarnation this year. We can focus more clearly on the “why:” why did God choose to live among us?
Ten Christmas Preaching Do's and Don'ts for 2020
It’s been quite a year. And yet, Jesus came for a time such as this. Consider these ten dos and don’ts as you prepare to preach this Christmas.
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I participated in the Lectio study today with a complicated and double-speak Gospel (John 17:6-19) and WOW! I received so much great insight and am headed in a direction I feel really good about. Thank you to all my colleagues! If you are wondering if this is worth it, wonder no more. It is.
—Donna G.
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