The Lutheran Zephyr

Comment: The Sermon Manuscript is a Must

Dwight, who blogs over at Versus Populum, offered quite the contrarian comment on my recent post, I Preached Without a Manuscript. 

Whereas most folks who commented (and who spoke to me at church that day) respond positively to the idea of preaching without a word-for-word manuscript, Dwight takes a sermon more seriously if it is written down in advance.  Read his comment (and the original post and other comments), and leave your own comments over there.

A Different Kind of Faith Conversation - Freedom

Tonight's Summer Faith Fellowship (described here and here) will be about Freedom.  These Summer Faith Fellowships are conversations about life that lead to a conversation of faith.

Beginning with a discussion of our own experiences of freedom and reflections on what it means to be free (particularly as we approach July 4), we will then reflect on the freedom we have in Christ and what it means to hope for and live in Christian Freedom.  We will be taking a special look at the wonderful South African song, "Freedom is Coming."

Full notes available here as a Microsoft Word document: Download gathering_3_freedom.doc

Peace to you.

I Preached Without a Manuscript

Today I preached hands-free - that is, there were no pages to turn because I did not use a manuscript.  This was the first time I had ever preached without a manuscript.

Several weeks ago after observing my friend Nate preach without any notes, I committed to giving paperless preaching a try (I described Nate's process for sermon preparation in some detail here: Paperless Preaching - an appreciation).  However, my own process of preparation for today's sermon was quite different.

Briefly, my friend Nate writes a manuscript for his sermon about 10 days prior to the preaching date.  Then, taking a section at a time and working over a few days during the week prior to the preaching date, he memorizes the sermon.  Come Sunday morning he has a carefully crafted sermon that is delivered without notes.  (For more detail on his process, click link above.)

That is not how I came about my paperless preaching today.  Last week I was in my normal manuscript-writing mode when I hit a wall.  The notes I had written were disjointed, and my ideas were just not flowing.  I knew where I wanted to go with the sermon - I had a grasp on the main "focus and function" of the sermon, but I couldn't get the words to work.  I found myself getting distracted by detail - sentences, phrases, margins, grammar, etc. - and losing focus on the message I was trying to convey.

In a fit of frustration I grabbed my iPod and the microphone that attaches to it, and walked into the sanctuary.  If I couldn't type my ideas, perhaps I could get away from the keyboard and simply say my thoughts out loud, record them on my iPod, and in that way jump-start my manuscript-writing process.

I expected to record a few 2-3 minute reflections.  Instead, I recorded a rather coherent 20-minute sermon.  For a first draft with no notes, it was not a bad sermon.  I listened to the recording, made an outline based on it, and then began the work of editing my notes to tighten the argument and clarify the flow.

And then began the rehearsals.  This is only my first time preaching without a word-for-word manuscript, but I cannot imagine preaching without a manuscript without several rehearsals.  When my sermon notes consist of short phrases written in outline form on two 5x7 index cards, it is essential to practice the transitions and segues.  In my first two rehearsals I found myself, at times, going in odd directions.  But after adding words and cues to my index cards, and rehearsing a few more times, my final two rehearsals were pretty similar.  I felt confident that I was focused, organized, prepared, practiced, and ready to preach. 

But I was also nervous as hell this morning.  As the Gospel recessional music played, I got into place - just in front of the first row of pews rather than in the pulpit, and set up a music stand off to my right to hold my two notecards.  I was in ready before the music was done, so I faced the altar and said a prayer - with my heart anxiously pounding.  I hadn't been so nervous for a sermon in a long, long time.

Overall the delivery went well.  I found myself speaking faster than I had in rehearsal (at times too fast), and I walked/paced around less than I had in rehearsal (which is a good thing).  Though I didn't use a word-for-word manuscript, my phrases were well-rehearsed and familiar.  A few unrehearsed phrases, words, and comments found their way into my sermon, yet each time appropriately connected to the outline.  More importantly, there was nothing between me and the people with whom I was sharing the sermon.  Usually I preach from a pulpit that is set at some distance from the people and at a hight of a few feet.  But standing at the first pew and looking at people rather than at notes, I felt a much better connection with the people with whom I was sharing the message. 

I received consistent feedback that this format was helpful, too, for the people in the pews.  Several folks went out of their way to tell me that this sermon spoke to them in a way that other sermons had not.  Many told me of feeling more connected, as if I was talking with them rather than at them.  They told me that I seemed more natural, more at ease, in this format rather than when I was wed to a text.

More to say, but let me leave it at this: this was an awesome experience, and I will definitely preach without a manuscript (but with some simple notes) for my next few sermons.  The personal connection that I felt - and that others reported feeling - and the more natural delivery style seem to help me in the task of conveying the Gospel.  Conveying the Gospel - isn't that the point of this whole preaching enterprise in the first place?

I worked harder at this sermon than I had at other sermons in the past.  I did not labor over words and syntax, as I might in a manuscripted sermon.  But I labored over the ideas and outline, and the presentation itself.  Preaching without a manuscript is not the same as "winging it."  Not at all.  I think it takes just as much - if not more - preparation than a traditional manuscripted sermon.

OK, it is getting late.  Time to finish the dishes and go to bed.  Thanks for reading.  G'night.

Weekly Mix Tape

I  was very excited this week to download Electronic's first album to my iPod (available via Amazon.com, not iTunes).  It was my first online music purchase - before then, I was just listening to old CDs that I had ripped to iTunes.  And truth be told, that purchase was just to replace the CD which I lost - or loaned - many years ago. 

[For the uninitiated, Electronic was a wonderful early 90's band bringing together Bernard Sumner of New Order and Johnny Marr of The Smiths.  Neil Tennant of The Pet Shop Boys also sang on several tracks of their first album.]

But alas, as the iTunes gods would have it, no Electronic in this week's Weekly Mix Tape.  Here they are - ten songs, shuffled not stirred, from my iPod.  Have a great weekend!

Rain, by Erasure
Cosmic Thing, by The B-52's
High and Dry, by Radiohead
The Lake, by The Judybats
Someone Like You, by New Order
Meija, by Porno for Pyros
The Sky is Broken, by Moby
Running to Stand Still, by U2
To Step Aside, by The Pet Shop Boys
Knockin' On Heaven's Door, by Bob Dylan

A Different Kind of Faith Conversation, part II

On Wednesday evening we had our second Summer Faith Fellowship in the home of one of our church families (the basic concept is described in some detail here prior to our first gathering).  As with our first gathering, I felt that it went very well.  In fact, though we "finished" at 9pm, several folks were still chatting until after 9:30!

The idea behind this Summer Faith Fellowship is to have a conversation about life and faith that begins not with Scripture or theology, but with the stuff of life.  It's a conversation about life that leads to a conversation about faith.  (That's also why we meet in homes, not at church - we meet in the place of daily life, rather than in the place that many view as set aside for religious or holy things.)  Last week the session began with a conversation about gasoline prices.  This week it began with a discussion about community. 

Unlike the first week's topic (gas prices), this week's topic (community) was not newsworthy, but the conversation flowed well nonetheless.  We opened with a discussion of the communities in which we were raised, and what we valued (or did not value) about those communities.  It helps that here in Northern Virginia few people are actually from Northern Virginia.  People spoke of communities as far flung as Pennsylvania, Ohio, California, southwestern Virginia, and yes, even Northern Virginia.  Then we listened to a report from National Public Radio from 2006 about the significance of the front porch in some new housing developments, and had follow-up discussion about how community is fostered and what community is.

Then I asked the God question - where is God in this?  We talked at some length about "being raised" in a community.  One gentleman highlighted the word "raised," offering that it connotes a hands-on rearing, a lifting up, even touch.  Set within my question about the "community in which you were raised," we talked about the influence of the whole community in the raising of a child.  We then talked about how church is a hand-on experience, a tactile and incarnate community, where we touch both physically and spiritually, and where we form the Body of Christ.  We looked at Acts 2, talked about the doctrine of the Holy Trinity, and being church - being the Body of Christ - both when we are gathered and when we are scattered.

(Here is the Word document with my notes: Download gathering_2_community.doc.)

As I said above, I think it went well.  This week I offered a little more substance to the God question than I had last week (several Scriptural references), but I still think we need more fodder for faith conversation (something on par with the NPR reports I've played over the past two weeks).  Though I think this Summer Faith Fellowship series will help our folks gain a comfort in talking about faith, there is a level of hesitance on the part of many to speak about faith.  Asking the God Question - where is God in this? - and offering Scripture invite some good comments, questions, and conversation, but . . . but - shudder the thought - I wonder if I should get a Nooma video or some other faith-oriented media presentation to stimulate conversation (I was a bit hard on Nooma here).  This, of course, gets more difficult - matching a "secular" media piece with a faith-based media piece, both reflecting on the same theme . . . But heck, nobody said that something good would come easy, eh?

We're holding these conversations on Wednesdays through the end of July.  I'll keep sharing.  Thanks!