Preaching
When I attended seminary in the mid 1980's we were told “The sermon is dead. Get over it.” That was about all they taught us about preaching. Everything else I’ve had to learn on my own, from watching others, to reflecting upon my own efforts. As much as ministers may think the sermon doesn’t matter, it does matter a lot to most people in the pews. Since we as Canadians tend to not uphold excellence, there is a very short list of who we consider to be ‘great preachers’. In the USA, they have no qualms about celebrating excellence. Many different magazines regularly pronounce who they think are the most effective, significant or successful preachers in the country,
So who do you learn from? Whose sermons inspire you today? I don’t have the Life Long Learning budget which allows me to travel across the continent and personally check out all the ‘great’ preachers out there. Thanks to high speed internet, lots of good and bad preaching is available. The TV preachers have their flashy sites, and even small time preachers can have their moment on youtube.
What sells today is people like Bishop TD Jakes, and Joel Osteen. Both are prosperity gospel preachers. Jakes has a lot more fire in him, coming from the Black church tradition. I used to be impressed with his walking around off-the-cuff style, until I spotted a guy crouched down in front holding up a series of cue-cards. Osteen is pure silky smooth middle class schmaltz. He starts off every sermon with an old church joke, which has nothing to do with the sermon. He doesn’t even get it that many of his jokes are poking fun at his pompous smiling style.
What intrigues me today is Brian McLaren. McLaren is a leading voice in the Emergent movement. Not flashy, but his content carries the day.
http://www.off-the-map.org/mediacenter/brian_mclaren_library.html
In terms of fiery style and great content, Tony Campolo lifts my spirits up.
http://www.thefellowship.info/News/video/tony.wax
So who inspires you? I invite you to post a link to someone you think is worth watching.
Have you posted a sermon on youtube or video.google?
You can find my sermons online at http://video.google.ca/videosearch?q=montreal+west+united+church
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Thanks for posting these RevJamesMurray. We still have a lot of organizing to do in this Wiki section, but you have the right idea by posting these great ideas.
preaching
Well, well well.
Preaching should not be dead. I like watching stand up comics. These men and women can keep an audience enthralled, preach about their political views, take shots at many politicians, and clergy and others for 20 minutes to an hour and nobody moves! They love it. The only reason preaching is so bad is that there are so many really bad preachers!
Preaching is truth telling and inspiration. Preaching is not trying to make everyone comfortable and peaceful. If the preacher is not nervous before the sermon, then s/he is not a preacher. They are simply not in awe of the situation.
Preaching changes lives.
Preaching makes the truth of the Gospel come alive.
Preaching removes the clouds, rends the temple cloth in half.
Preaching is not for the faint of heart.
Preaching
The most inspirational preacher I've come across of late is the Reverend Billy of The Church of Stop Shopping out of New York City. He first came to my attention when he was arrested for preaching Mickey Mouse as the anti-Christ in front of the Disney Store in New York. His latest encounter with the law, it appears, is his arrest for reciting in public the First Amendment of the American Constitution. His current bete noire is the Victoria Secret Company and catalogue, primarily for the number of trees (Canadian trees, it appears!) sacrificed to produce the millions of copies. Reverend Billy is technically a performing artist; he's hasn't been "ordained" by any established religious body but, wow, can this guy preach! Oh for but a portion of his spirit.
questions on defining "great preaching"
My sense is there are some preachers who are great to listen to "once in a while", but a steady diet may be exhausting.
I also do not feel we all measure greatness by the same standards, so.....how about we talk about the specifics of what makes an inspiring preacher both immediately & for the long haul.
Factors one might use for breaking down preaching would be
a) relevance: to lectionary, to people in congregation, to locale, to society
b) delivery: physical location/movement, sound, notes required?, use of props, equipment, "absorption", confidence
d) content: theological "accuracy" and placement, cohesiveness with rest of service, church direction & goals,
e) mission/service: does it call the church, the people
I have had the privilege of being in the congregation of dynamic/vibrant preachers, scholarly ministers and motivational/teambuilding ministers. Each of them have their gifts and I have recommended others listen or invite them. Each would rank differently in those areas. It leads me to wonder, and wish, we had megachurches, with three or more ministers, each able to provide their gifts, and be celebrated for what they do, not what they don't.