Thank you all so much for the thought, prayer, reflection and energy that you put into your preaching. God has spoken to many people through you - which is pretty awesome. This past week in my liturgy school class, we took some time to think and talk about preaching. What makes for a good sermon? How can we possibly evaluate whether preaching is done well or poorly? What is the purpose of preaching anyways?
Because many of you can be found hanging out on Facebook and the rest of the internet looking for material to prepare your sermons, I thought I would share the results of this conversation with you - perhaps you will find them useful and inspiring.
And now, for your consideration, here is what last Sunday's liturgy school students believe preaching is for and how it should be accomplished.
What are the characteristics of good preaching?
In terms of form, structure and technique:
Good preaching has at least one preacher.
Good preaching uses props.
Good preaching has an activity.
Good preaching (that uses an illustration about smalls dogs, magically conjures a small dog to appear suddenly and run through the Church - this tip is based on a particular sermon last summer at St Philip's and we are currently investigating whether one of our priests might also be a wizard).
Good preaching has a specific order - one thing follows from another.
Good preaching has a beginning, middle and end.
Good preaching involves kids.
Good preaching connects with people.
Good preaching uses an interesting tone of voice to engage people.
In terms of content:
Good preaching tells a story.
Good preaching includes a story of God or Jesus.
Good preaching gives people hope.
Good preaching has a moral - something you can take away to use in your life.
Good preaching relates to a reading from the Bible.
Good preaching is interesting and engaging the whole way through.
Now you may be wondering what our class believes the purpose of preaching to be given their suggestions on what good preaching looks like.
What is the purpose of preaching?
To teach people about God.
To share the Word of God.
To find a common place between religions.
To show people the Holy Spirit in the world and their lives.
To spread awareness about the Word of God.
To spread God's Word to the world with hope.
So there you have it folks, a glimpse into how this group of young people understands the purpose, form and content of good preaching. Given what I learned about homiletics when I was in school, I feel they have captured many of the important characteristics of engaging preaching and its place in our worship. These young students are well on their way to being accomplished preachers (and liturgists). I look forward to experiencing any preaching that is able to follow these guidelines.
