Preaching

We continue looking at Teresa Fry Brown's description of Charles Adams' lecture on preaching found on page 164 and 165 of her book Weary Throats and New Songs.

In this point, Adams, through Brown, suggests that we take care of our vocal mechanism. He notes that there is an over reliance on the microphone and not on "projection" among many preachers. Preachers must practice even without the microphone. The microphone cannot cover up mechanical problems that the preacher might have in speaking. Go to your church while it is empty and preach without a microphone. Listen to how the sound bounces off the walls. Of course it will sound different when there are people sitting in there, but you will at least see that you can project further than you think you can.

In addition, Adams notes one of the greatest problems that many Black preachers have which is "'yelling' instead of learning to use the voice wisely." As we have noted in other posts, increasing volume is not the only way to increase intensity for the sermon. I have heard preachers yell all the way through their messages. These preachers are limiting their future effectiveness. Projection and effective vocal presentation will increase the effectiveness of the preacher for years to come.

Teresa Fry Brown has written up notes to a lecture delivered by Charles Adams. These notes can be found on page 164 and 165 of her book Weary Throats and New Songs. How to deliver sermons was the subject of the lecture. The second point that Brown brought out was to "never apologize for the sermon."

Many congregants have heard sermons littered with apologies for the content of the message. Brown notes a couple of common apologies. Sometimes preachers will say, "I know you don't want to hear this but...." before saying something that the preacher anticipates will cause opposition in the congregation. Another statement often spoken by preachers guilty of this infraction is "I'm sorry but..."

The preacher has been given a word from God to speak to the particular people at the particular place. If the preacher drops apologies into the word it will bing into question the origin of the message. You have done the exegesis, you have prayfully constructed the sermon. The Spirit has been invovled in the whole process. At that point it is time to stand up and unapologetically preach the message. Certainly you will make mistakes, but don't undercut the whole message by apologizing for what God has God has given you to preach.

Dr. Charles Adams presented a class entitled "Preaching, Black and White." During one of the lectures he gave some "do's and don'ts." Teresa Fry Brown wrote up notes from that lecture on page 164 and 165 of her book Weary Throats and New Songs. These were to help the preacher deliver their sermons more effectively. In the next few posts we are going to discuss these very important pointers.

The first point is to "Avoid being dull, tedious, or laborious." Then Adams (through Brown) stated that "Vocal energy paired with sound theology and knowledge of language give life to a sermon." There are three components to this pointer

Vocal Energy

First there is vocal energy. Here I think that Adams is getting at what I try to speak of as "sermon intensity." Here the preacher simply lets the natural enthusiasm of the preacher come through. If the preacher is not enthused about the message, then the preacher is not preaching the right message. Now one should hasten to add that enthusiasm will demonstrate itself in different ways as the different preachers allow their individuality to show, but there will be enthusiasm. that all deserve some illumination.

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Some of our colleagues were shocked at the sermon by Jeremiah Wright. I think one should read and hear a full sermon, and the full body of work, of a preacher before jumping to conclusions about one's love for the country. Here is a sermon that can help you gain context on this preacher.

Lowell Erdahl, in the book Best Advice for Preaching, quotes someone who said, "There are two kinds of preachers--those who have to say something and those who have something to say!" A preacher gains something to say by connection to the divine through the spiritual disciplines including prayer and study. Having something to say comes from an in-depth look at the scripture. Having something to say comes from time and in-depth work.

However, too many preachers simply "must say something." These preachers take shortcuts. They copy a sermon off of the internet because it is not important what they say, but that they have something to say. They grab the latest edition of The African American Pulpit and preach a sermon verbatim, but have not done the work that is necessary to have something to say. Too often preachers who must say something will whoop or yell or use some other aspect of African American preaching style to hide the fact that they don't have anything to say.

The great blessing is that any preacher who God has called can have "something to say" rather than just one who "must say something." It is time to get back on that devotional program of Bible study and prayer. It is time to start looking at the scripture exegetically. And perhaps the hardest thing, if you don't have something to say, make use of those others who do have something to say. Do not give the people just anything because you don't have something to say.

I really love the website Biblical Preaching. Peter Mead always has a nugget that can be helpful to the preacher. Currently he has written a couple of posts on the subject of closing the sermon.

Principles of Closing the Sermon

Mead gives two important principles that every preacher should keep in mind. First the preacher should stop the sermon when the sermonic destination has been reached. The second is that "after an ideal landing has been missed, every second is not neutral, but negative."

Read the Rest Here

What are the sermons that are preached in the Black church? In this audio we discuss three of the types of sermons that are operative in the Black church.

Download the audio at this link.

Sometimes preachers declare that style is always secondary to content in preaching. The preacher should make sure that the people are receiving good content, and if the people are exposed to good content every week, the people will be weaned off of the use of emotion which will cloud the mind. At least that is what some would argue. In fact, if you do a good job, so the argument goes, you can deliver the sermon in a calm objective lecture style and it will be just as effective as if sweat were dripping for your brow as you yell the sermon at the top of your voice.

Now I would agree that vocal volume is not the only way to increase intensity, but I would strongly disagree with this attempt to privilege calm preaching over fiery preaching. In addition, I would not want to say you must be yelling to be a great preacher, but emotion must be a part of real preaching if it is to effect the whole person and not just the mind.

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Henry Mitchell's book Celebration and Experience in Preaching provides 2 very important sermonic structural components that can guide the preacher in structuring Black Sermons. The first component is celebration. Mitchell argues that celebration is the pervasive distinctive that Black preaching brings to the homiletic universe. Black preaching appeals to the emotive and the intuitive to promote a holistic celebration of the Gospel. I have written on Mitchell's celebration idea in this article. The second component of Mitchell's book is a discussion of what he calls the "genres of preaching." These are different structures that effective sermons in the Black tradition take. Vincent Wimbush, in his book The Bible and African Americans, provides a way to analyze how the Bible is operative in the Black sermon. You can read about Wimbush's description of Black Bible reading at this link. Cleophus LaRue, in his book The Heart of Black Preaching, provides a way to analyze how Black culture is addressed in sermons. I have written on LaRue's way of doing this at this link. Mitchell gives us a way to look at how these two perspectives are brought together in a sermon. Many of Mitchell's sermon types are simply variations on a narrative theme.

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What are five things you need in a sermon? Poor sermons break one of these important components of sermon construction and presentation.

Download the audio at this link.