At the moment, I’m on sabbatical and am not preaching regularly. However, I recently had the opportunity to preach to a congregation largely made up of apprentice preachers – those who are training for ordained and lay ministries in the church in the future. A number of them have asked me to share some wisdom on how I prepare a sermon. One even asked me to share my ‘homiletic method’. I don’t know about that, but here’s a few things I’ve been learning about preaching. I’ve written posts like this before, but here’s where I am in 2022.
- In good sermons there should be a beginning, a middle and an end. In the best sermons, they don’t come in that order.
Start somewhere unexpected. Bewilder. Entrance. Beguile. - A thousand biblical commentaries will not make a preacher a thousand times better.
I have a huge admiration for those who write biblical commentaries but I have to confess that I very rarely use them when I’m writing a sermon. I remember a biblical scholar who used to be a member of one of the congregations that I’ve belonged to telling me that he had spent months trying to work out what my sources were and what commentaries I was reading.
“Ah,” I said, “I’m just making it all up”.
“I knew it!” he replied.
The only caveat I would add to this is that I don’t think I would be able to make it all up without having been taught theology by inspirational teachers in university. - Good preachers listen to good preachers.
I’m lucky in that I hear good preaching within my own congregation from other members of the team. However, everyone can listen to good preaching these days. This internet thingy looks like it is here to stay. - Reflecting on the biblical texts is not just for sermon prep.
Regularly thinking about what’s in the bible is part of the life of a preacher, it isn’t just for when you need to get into the pulpit. For me, I’ve come to realise that hearing the bible read aloud when saying the daily office with others is a key way that I get to think about what’s in it. Being part of a group of people who regularly read the bible out loud together means that you get to be in a group that can talk about the horrible and outrageous bits honestly and say what you feel about them. This is important. The bible isn’t always nice. - It is OK to use other people’s ideas but not their words.
Don’t copy and paste. You’ll get found out. Anyone who knows you will know if you use material that isn’t in your own voice. They will wonder whose voice it is. And nowadays they will find out. - Be serious about being funny if you want to make people laugh.
I’m very lucky in being someone who preaches in Glasgow where people have an amazing sense of humour. It always used to be said that stand-up comedians dreaded playing Glasgow as audiences could give them a hard time. However, one of a number of reasons that the Glasgow Empire was called the comedians’ graveyard was because the audience was funnier than some who trod the boards and they knew it.
Different things make people laugh in different places and it is worth working out what those things are. For example, the word, “Edinburgh” is intrinsically funny in Glasgow. The word, “Glasgow” will barely raise a smile in Edinburgh.
There’s a big difference between being genuinely funny in the pulpit and telling a joke. By and large, formulaic jokes are not nearly as funny as reflecting on real life.
The way you speak matters. Your voice will be different when you make people laugh to when you make people cry or think or get cross.
Yes, sometimes preachers should make people cross.
Rhythm is crucial. Think about preaching whilst doing something rhythmic – walking, swimming, knitting or …. well, you can think of something else that you need rhythm for. - Preaching is a form of striptease.
I’ve said this before and it always makes people feel uneasy. What I mean by it is that good preachers tend to reveal a lot about themselves. Congregations come to know the person they are listening to week after week. Show them another layer. Reveal something new every time.
You know and they know that there’s parts of your personality that you’ll never quite reveal but they don’t know which those bits are. Not knowing quite what’s coming next is all part of the excitement.
Tell stories about yourself but only stories in which you are the fool. - Art begets preachers art.
I’m sure that my preaching would be a lot more dull if I didn’t go to the theatre or listen to the spoken word on the radio. People craft words and use them to tell stories. Some of them are very good at it and they have much to teach us in church. People who see good opera and theatre are never going to be satisfied whilst putting on dull liturgy and preaching dull sermons.
Remember what Peter Brook said: “A stage space has two rules: (1) Anything can happen and (2) Something must happen.”
A pulpit is a stage.
The altar sits in the middle of another one.
Oh, and go to art galleries and look at things you don’t immediately understand. Preaching is a visual art, just one in which the paintings and the sculptures are made with words. - Have one idea at once. Save the other ideas for another day.
My bishop once said to me after I’d preached at some bigfangled service or another, “I don’t know how you do it, you only ever have one idea in every sermon.” He’s right. I do. And if I find I’ve got lots going on in a sermon I try to weed out the thoughts that are getting in the way of the one idea that I’m trying to get over and leave them for another time.
People in the pews know that a sermon that is a few sentences too short is a hundred times better than a sermon that is a few hours too long. Preachers need to learn the difference too. - Always chose the difficult text if presented with a choice to preach on.
Some of the stories in the bible are difficult. Some vicious. Some violent. Some perplexing. Some outrageous. Always prioritise preaching on the hard stuff and worry away over it. The best sermons I ever write are about the most difficult texts. Preaching on the difficult stuff is hard. Preaching on the lovely stuff is impossible. Who ever preached a sermon that improved on or elucidated 1 Corinthians 13 anyway?
Someone once told me that I made the hard stuff easy and the easy stuff difficult.
I take that as a compliment.
Never be frightened of admitting that a passage is difficult. Never patronise people in the pews by withholding from them Big Modern Ideas that you came across in your theological education. Christians can cope with new ideas. Christianity isn’t about to be wiped out by theology. - Record sermons. Share sermons. Be the first to watch your own sermon.
I’ve probably learned more from watching and listening to my own sermons than from anyone else. Not because I’m a homiletic genius but because I’m not. Listening to how I paced the sermon, how I used the dynamics and speed of my voice and above all, listening for the reactions of the congregation, is crucial to leaning how to do it better. Most people don’t like listening to recordings of their own voice. However, if you want to get better at preaching then get over yourself as quickly as you can. If you can’t cope with listening to yourself you cannot reasonably expect others to listen to you.
I realised this week after I’d preached that if I’d just rephrased one of the lines and paced it differently I’d have got a belly laugh out of the congregation instead of a mere titter.
That’s not a failure.
Spotting that and tucking it away for another time is a success. - Everyone who preaches can become a better preacher
There is no-one who speaks in public who couldn’t get better at it than they currently are. Don’t be frightened of thinking about doing it better, no matter how early (or how late) you are in your preaching career. Quality and excellence are mission values these days, something a lot of people are very frightened of indeed – which I may write about more in another post.
I remember years ago someone telling me that they thought I’d be a great preacher one day. I was furious – I thought I was pretty good at the time. I eventually came to realise that it wasn’t me who had the word of wisdom that day, it was the person who was speaking to me.
Nowadays I share their hope that I’ll be a great preacher some day. In the mean time, I’m still learning.
37 responses to “Keeping the faith”
It was an inspiring recitation. Following the English translation in the service sheet provided added insight to the life of Mary. All the more so as the cathedral is dedicated to St Mary. You are reminded of Mary every time you walk into the building with the Gwyneth Leech mural over the High Altar.
Kelvin is quite right. The very self-righteous defenders of the Bible (including the ones who trolled a brave young Muslim woman, for days, with the most vile language, and those who did not reprimand them) totally ignored the Biblical instructions for raising concerns with a brother in faith (Matthew 18:15; 2 Tim 23). Very practical instruction too! As anyone who has ever lived in community can verify. Could all these obsessive men *please* stop trying to divide our communities in Glasgow. We will not be divided. At the first sign of trouble we rush out to embrace one another. These abusers have much to repent of, even if *just* standing by while others throw stones.
I HATE it when the wrong tune is picked for a hymn … it is simply an abomination before God.
However, helping people to think about how we share hospitality, welcome and learn from each other is the WAY of God! Blessings on you Kelvin.
Some reasons why this time was different:
1. The other quaran recitations you mentioned happened at Nine Lessons and Carols, or special ecuminical and interfaith events. While 9L&C was originally a modified Evensong, nowadays it’s usually considered a seasonal community musical recitial with a religious tinge, so having a Muslim from the community recite something from their faith would seem natural enough. Civic and interfaith services will likewise naturally include representatives of every faith in the community. By contrast the Eucharist is the central act of Christian worship and people expect to hear ONLY Christian doctrine proclaimed in the Holy Eucharist. In other words, this was the wrong venue for showing hospitality to Muslim neighbors. You did not intend to practice syncretism, but I think the outcome was syncretic despite your good intentions.
2. Post Brexit (and post Trump) British Muslims are now seen as alien invaders rather than fellow members of the community.
3. Because hostility to Muslims is now fashionable, the Express and rest of the gutter press decided that this was a story worth reporting. Since conservative Americans often read the online editions of the British gutter press, the story then went global.
4. Because you are gay and out, your every action is scrutinized for any possible hint of heresy by GAFCON and Co.
Of all these reasons, only reason #1 is a legitimate criticism, but I hope you do think about criticism #1 as well as defending yourself from other, illegitimate criticisms.
Thank you for your comment Whit J – all the more because it is a thoughtful criticism.
I’ve plenty to reflect on about the how and the when we do things like that and I do hear loudly and clearly that many people think this was an inappropriate context. Though of course, I’d be bound to say that some are saying that the Eucharist is precisely the place indeed there are some saying that is what it is for.
I’m not going to get into a back and forth with all the comments on this post and I’m deliberately not letting through things that have already been said but be assured that I’ve heard the criticism and will reflect on it not simply now but over coming months. (I’ve learned a lot about where God is this week that will take a long time to process). I’m grateful for the way you’ve made your point.
I think there is a good deal in what Whit J says, although I am not sure the effect actually was syncretic. I think one does perhaps have to be a regular worshipper at St Mary’s to understand how totally orthodox the worship there is, and how much Jesus is the focus of worship – how utterly unlikely it is that anyone there would make the mistake of thinking he was not revered by the congregation as a whole as very God from very God. It would be impossible for them not to realise that all the clergy there rejoice in this belief. The congregation saw the words of the Qu’ran in an English translation which portrayed that book’s far-from-easy-to-follow account of Islam’s view of the conception of Jesus, in which there was nothing offensive, and heard a very beautiful voice singing in a strange and glorious language. These were clearly indicated to be the beliefs of another faith. We certainly neither saw or heard or understood any insult to the person of Christ. I am sure none was intended, either. Whereas, and this bears repeating, I am totally sure that many of those commenting (not of course by any means all of them, and nobody whose comments are published here) simply wish harm to relationships between the great faiths in Glasgow.
I have spent my whole adult life in dialogue with people of other religious traditions, it has been deeply rewarding. However I feel that what happened at this service was profoundly wrong. When we are truly ourselves we allow other people to be profoundly themselves. The truth of Christianity is not compatible with any other religion. To avoid that incompatibility is to avoid reality. Worship of Jesus is the fountain of our faith the Qu’ran is opposed to that. I love Jesus and therefore cannot conceive of reading the Qu’ran in an act of worship – no problem doing so in other contexts but not in worship. I am profoundly disturbed that you cannot see this Kelvin.
There are so many things aren’t there, not just around this issue which we hold dear in faith and which we can’t see from another perspective?
I can hear and see that people are upset by this and clearly there are many people not upset by it too. And obviously, at least I hope obviously, I love Jesus too.
The trouble with religious questions and the questions that religious people have I think is that so often that our love for our faith can make it impossible to comprehend others who also claim to love the same faith but who take different views about things. We can hear them claim that love but be intellectually unable to process it because it leads them to different conclusions.
I’ve found the same thing to be true in the sexuality debates very frequently though I perceive that to be changing sometimes now. Similarly with other identity issues and some political issues. Israel/Palestine conversations for example often seem to be conducted (when they are conducted at all) by people who seem to behave like ships passing in the night.
I happen to have views about Church Schools which are pretty intransigent and negative. You are one of the few people, no the only person, who ever made me really think there might be a point of view about them other than mine which might have an integrity I could respect. And I’m very grateful for that.
Kelvin, thank you for your reply. I have enormous respect for you. I have no doubt that church schools can be argued against from perfectly respectable positions. Worship of Jesus is simply a different order, it cannot include a reading from the Qu’ran. Worship is one thing, study, dialogue, relationship something else.
I am really grateful to Richard for the phrase “When we are truly ourselves we allow other people to be profoundly themselves” which reflects my experience of interfacing with sincere people of other faiths. Is a Christian Eucharist a place this should happen? I can understand some Christians feeling it is not, but as long as everything was clearly labelled as what it was and the integrity of the liturgy was intact, I can also understand some feeling it is.
Brother Kelvin,
Although I do not agree with allowing the Koran to be read in our Christian churches, I truly appreciated your firm and resolute stand for the deity of Jesus. He is our great God and Savior and I love Him very much. Blessings from Tennessee.
Just as a perhaps amusing point of reference, the 1982 hymnal of the Episcopal church in the USA has “Brightest and best of the STARS” (caps mine) “of the morning,” apparently so as to avoid offending any daughters who might be present, and the two tunes included are “Morning Star” by James Proctor Harding (1850-1911) and “Star in the East” from The Southern Harmony (1835). The Harding tune was also in the 1940 Hymnal, wherein the word “sons” was still used.
I am not clear as to whether the hospitality at St Mary’s anticipates infinite extension of parallel lines between Islam and the Church in Glasgow. Are you planning some opportunities for Glasgow Muslims to understand the Christian faith and prepare for Baptism and the glorious liberty of regeneration by the Holy Spirit? (In whichever order; no axe about that!) As you move around the Glasgow community and meet more Christians of Islamic background, why not invite such to participate in groups for new Muslim enquirers? The testimony of an ex-Muslim can express vibrantly “How I know He lives” (as your SA brethren would sing). You might find not only new hearts from a divine work of grace among your Muslim neighbours but in other neighbours too. Amen. Inshallah!
There are a small number of people in St Mary’s who are converts from Islam to Christianity just as there are a small number of people in local mosques who are converts from Christianity to Islam.
St Mary’s regularly puts on events and courses for people discovering and exploring Christianity. Most living religions do the same thing.