Black Preaching Methods
How to Prepare – Know the Church and Pastor
Another way to be prepared is to practice properly established protocol. One should have rehearsed citing:
- The church’s name
- The pastor’s name
- The name of the auxiliary which extended the invitation.
- The occasion that brought forth your invitation
I can recall with dread being asked to preach for a pastor in a surrounding city. This pastor was the president of the state convention, and so I addressed him accordingly, however, I mispronounced his name! I felt like a clown when the congregation communally corrected me. It was like a public chastisement. Previously, only he and I knew that I was a novice preacher, but after that moment everyone knew. It was an uphill battle trying to deliver the message because my lack of preparation ushered in an extreme sense of nervousness.
How To Prepare - Re-Read Your Manuscript
OK, we all know that we should prepare, but how do you prepare? Many put forth much effort into creating a strong manuscript, and then step into the pulpit having spent little time reading the document.
Know Your Manuscript
In contrast, great preacher's review their sermon several times before arriving at the appointed place. My mentor, the Rev. G.L. Parks, has suggested that one reads their manuscript no less than 10 times prior to preaching it. The preacher should especially pay attention to details like spelling and grammatical concerns. Such efforts will help to ensure that the preacher doesn’t stumble over or mispronounce words.
Know Your Biblical Text
For those who opt to preach without a script, familiarizing one’s self with the introduction, major points transitions, and the close is helpful. Regardless of how one presents the material, a good way to be prepared is to be familiar with the text. Many seasoned pastors suggest that one knows their text well enough to cite it from memory. This is a good idea, and one should be familiar with the text enough to put emphasis where necessary in the text. Also having the proper pronunciation for difficult proper names is also a good way of demonstrating competence through preparation.
Thus preparing a strong manuscript is just the beginning, preparation includes knowing the Biblical text as well as one's manuscript very well.
The Advantages of Preparation
We cannot say enough about preparation. Some sage once said that proper preparation prevents poor performance. This is especially true in the preaching moment.
Preparation Lowers Preacher's Fears
My fellow preachers, I have observed a few advantages of being prepared and will delineate some of them in this article. First, being prepared helps to ease nervousness. For the associate minister and the visiting minister alike preaching in a foreign pulpit can be a terror-filled experience. However, being prepared will help the preacher lesson this "terror."
Preparation Lowers Congregational Apprehension
Let's be real, most of the time people come to church expecting to hear a word through their pastor. Many have joined the church because they appreciate the ministry of their pastor. Often these people are taken aback when they see another where the pastor "should be." Being prepared helps the preacher by allowing the preacher to become a willing and energetic participant in all of the service. The preacher can read the text, sing the congregational hymn and participate in other visible ways. This participation can help the preacher get a feel for the congregation and help to lower the apprehension of the people.
Conclusion
Thus preparation helps both the preacher and the congregation. If you have an especially horror filled moment, remember you prepared and say a quick prayer to God as you participate in the praise of the worship service. Perhaps your fear will be overtaken by your praise.
Teresa Fry Brown and Charles Adams Preaching Dos and Don'ts
This is the final post in the series discussing notes on Dr. Charles Adams' class entitled "Preaching, Black and White." Specifically the lecture entitled "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. We have had nine articles in the series:
- Avoiding a Dull Sermon - How to avoid being dull in preaching effectively.
- Don't Apologize for the Message - When God gives you a message, don't be afraid of it, stand up and preach it if you are to be an effective preacher.
- Preachers must Protect the Voice - If you are to be an effective preacher you must not abuse your voice.
- Your Voice is an Instrument - Preach like It - Don't preach in a monotonous way, use changes in dynamics, tone, and rhythm.
- Preach with the People - Don't preach above or below the people, but to them.
- Stealing Another Person's Sermon - What It Says About You?
- What are the results when we steal other people's sermons.- On the Reuse of Sermons - How to Re-use a sermon.
- Should You Imitate Other Preachers? - What happens when you imitate other preachers?
- How Long to Preach? - How Long should your sermon be?
These tips can help any preacher become a much more effective one. You can read any of the above articles simply by clicking the article titles.
How Long to Preach
However, this is a personal thing. I have heard some strong preachers preach on a very interesting topic for an hour and have wondered where the time went. I have also heard dry ponderous presentations that felt like 2 hours when it was really 30 minutes. So I guess we have two points. The first point is to say something significant and needed and helpful. If you present something significant in an interesting way, then you will have few people disappointed in your length.
However your average preacher would do better to preach shorter sermons because it is easier for the people to process and it is easier for the preacher to stay interesting.
Dr. Caeser Clark - Passes Away
Thanks to the resurrection of Jesus, we know that those who have died are only asleep, and in a little while, we shall hear the trumpet of God waking the resting, and the dead in Christ shall rise first, and then we who are a live an remain shall meet the Lord in the air and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
We pray that God will protect the ashes of this man of God till the mortal takes on immortality. Here is the AP Story, and here is another story.
Should You Imitate Other Preachers?
The thought here is to strive to be yourself. Certainly one can learn from other preachers. I have written about this in many other articles. Just as the Jazz musician listens to other musicians, certainly we will listen to preachers and gain something from them. However, it is very problematic to imitate someone, especially when one has heard the one that you are copying. The people have come to hear you preach so you preach. God has called us to preach in our own gender, ethnicity, and denominational tradition. Copying will short circuit your creativity and make you redundant. If I want some big name preacher to preach, I will get them, but if I have called you, I want you. Let God speak to the people with your voice.
On the Reuse of Sermons
The book argues that we should not repeat a sermon unless we "filter" it. I have heard homiletics instructors argue over this topic. One of my homiletics teachers stated that you should never re-use a sermon. In this instructors mind, the sermon is so tied to circumstances and situations that it can not legitimately be used again in another circumstance and situation. Certainly there is some truth here. The vast majority of sermons are so closely tied to this situation that it cannot be used again verbatim.
However, as one of my other professors stated, if it is worth preaching once, it is worth preaching again. However that professor would agree with Adams, through Brown, who states that "new experience, new information, [and] new communication" require that the sermon be recast into the new situation.
Simple Preaching Survival Strategies - Be Punctual
In this article we continue discussing simple strategies that will greatly increase your effectiveness as a preacher. The next one is something of special interest to those of us who are especially prone to CP (Colored People) Time. I don't necessarily believe that there is a correlation between melanin and tardiness, but there is amongst us an ongoing realization that too often we are not on time. To increase your effectiveness, you must be punctual.
Why Being on Time is Important?
We cannot say enough about being on time. Being on time is a necessity. It informs members of the congregation that you take ministry and their time seriously. While it is true that circumstances arise in all of our lives that force us to be a little late at times, but timeliness in the matter of preaching ought to be our habit. Arriving late makes it seem as if you were preoccupied with more pressing matters than both the Gospel and the people; what could be more important than these things?
Conclusion
To Conclude, being on time will demonstrate to the people that you take your role as a preacher seriously and that you think that their time is important. If at all possible be on time and watch your effectiveness as a preacher increase.
Simple Preaching Survival Strategies - Be Present
While God plays the most significant role in the preaching task, the preacher must aid God in the work. Preachers can follow some simple strategies that will greatly aid the preaching moment. In the next 4 posts we will look at a few of these simple strategies. The first is to simply be present.
