The Lutheran Zephyr

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!

Preparing for the Feast of Saints Peter and Paul

This week at St John's By The Gas Station we will be celebrating the Feast of SS Peter and Paul, which falls every year on June 29.  I always love when a Feast Day falls on a Sunday, giving us a special opportunity to reflect on the life and witness of the saints as exemplars of the life of faith.  We will read two of the "alternate" readings appointed for this Feast - 1 Corinthians 3:16-23 ("do you not know that you are God's temple?") and Mark 8:27-35 (Jesus says to Peter, "get behind me Satan").

A few random and assorted thoughts:

• Why do we Lutherans refer to this day as a "Festival" but the Roman Catholic tradition refers to it as a "Feast"?  Is there any significant difference in meaning between the two words?  Our friends in the Missouri Synod offer that there is no difference between the two terms:

Note: “Feast” and “festival” are synonymous in this context; both reflect the Lat. dies festus; “feasts and festivals” indicates only that both words are used in reference to certain special days other than fast days.

• Another question - in Evangelical Lutheran Worship, we refer to these guys as Peter and Paul, not as Saints.  What's our hang-up about using the title "Saint," particularly for Biblical figures?  Aren't about half of our Lutheran congregations called "Saint" this or that?  (The Lutheran Book of Worship, Service Book and Hymnal, and Common Service Book all refer to "Saints" in their calendars)
• The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity - a celebration that marked its 100th year this year - begins with the Feast of the Confession of St Peter (January 18) and concludes with the Feast of the Conversion of St Paul (January 25).  An early alternate proposal suggested that Christian unity be celebrated on (and prayed for) on the Feast of Sts. Peter and Paul (June 29), the day that the church has historically commemorated their martyrdom. 

So my question is this: Why the focus on Peter and Paul for Christian unity?  Is this because of the rivalry between the two?  Or is this because Peter is a favorite saint of Roman Catholics, revered as the first Pope, and Paul is a favorite saint of Protestants, revered by them as the great grace-preaching evangelist?  Is there some other reason?

• On this day we lift up two saints, two cornerstones of the church.  Yet we hear Paul speaking to the people at the church in Corinth (in 1 Corinthians 3) that "you are God's temple," a wonderful corrective to an excessive ecclesial piety that would limit God's presence and work to the institutional church and its traditions.  God is at work in the church - God promises to be uniquely present in the ministry and fellowship of the church - yet God is also at work beyond the church walls in the lives of the faithful, and indeed in the world at large.
• I also love the tension of Peter - the rock on whom Christ builds the church - being called Satan by our Lord.  It's got the sinner/saint paradox written all over it.  Sin is part of the church's life.  Yet it is from our place of sinfulness that we hear our Lord's call to be the church - to live in forgiveness, grace and mercy.
• A question naturally arises on this day: what is the church?  What does it mean to be church?  As Lutherans we teach "the church is the assembly of saints in which the gospel is taught purely and the sacraments are administered rightly" (Augsburg Confession, Article VII - from The Book of Concord, trans. Kolb/Wengert).  In the nearly 500 years since the Reformation an overly-simplistic dichotomy has developed, one which says that the Protestants emphasize preaching the Gospel and the Roman Catholics concern themselves with sacramental rites and rituals (as if the Catholics don't preach the Gospel and Protestants have no ritual!).  Yet in the Augsburg Confession, both strands of church - the Gospel-preaching ministry Protestants have emphasized, and the sacramental ministry of such importance to the Roman Catholic church - are held together.  As Lutherans we are Evangelical (ie, Protestant) and Catholic. 

This Evangelical Catholic theme also works if you accept another over-simplification about the Catholic/Protestant divide, which was suggested above - that Peter is especially revered by Catholics, and Paul especially so by Protestants.  On this day, we hold the two together - the "Catholic Saint" and the "Protestant Saint" - as models of the Godly life and pillars of the Christian Church.

(A note about oversimplifications - if I use these characterizations in my preaching, it will be in part to break them down and attempt to articulate a new way of speaking about Christian ministry and the church.)

That's it for now.  If you have any thoughts, please share!

Weekly Mix Tape

After a long drought, here is my Weekly Mix Tape - ten songs, shuffled not stirred, from my iPod.

Goody Two Shoes - Adam Ant
Tonight I'm Free - Byker Grooove!
High and Dry - Radiohead
Who Are You - Dada
White Love (radio mix) - One Dove
Whip It - Devo
To Have And Not To Hold - Madonna
Where The Streets Have No Name - U2
Natural Blues - Moby
I Know It's Over [Live] - The Smiths

A Different Kind of Faith Conversation

Our first "Summer Faith Fellowship" went very well tonight.  Inspired by the Pub Theology/Theology on Tap efforts of other churches, this event was designed to be a loosely structured conversation that reflected on a "real life" issue in light of faith.  Sixteen of us met in the living room of a member's house, where we shared drinks and snacks before settling down for some conversation.

Tonight's theme was the price of gas.  I opened with two questions:

• What is the lowest gas prices you can remember?
• How has the recent increase in gas prices impacted your lifestyle?

These questions generated some opening conversation about the changes to our nation's economy and their impact.  Then I played a report from NPR's Morning Edition about a family from Ohio with five children and two large SUVs (from Wednesday, June 18 - Ohio Family Struggles with Costs of Driving SUVs).  Following the report, I asked a simple question:

• What jumped out at you from the report?

I had a few additional follow-up questions also planned, but I didn't need them.  The conversation in response to the NPR piece flowed very well.

As response to that piece slowed down, I played another NPR report (also from Wednesday, June 18 - Energy Costs Drive Up Prices of Nearly Everything).  Again, I asked a simple question:

• What jumped out at you from the report?

That report and question led to a conversation about economic theory - will consumers really just keep paying more for oil and oil-derived/dependent products?  Again, I had detailed follow-up questions, but I did not need them.

In response to these two NPR reports, our conversation touched on a variety of issues - consumption, town planning/suburban sprawl, public transportation, packaging, waste, sanitation/health concerns, a "throw-away" mentality, environmentalism, carbon footprint, poverty, priority-setting, and more.  People shared insights from their youth, their friends and families, their travel overseas, their areas of expertise, their daily lives . . . It was really great.

Then I asked the God question:

• Where is God in all of this?

Flowing from this question we talked of living lives of gratitude; stewardship; concern for the poor.  We talked about Genesis, and wondered to what extent the issue of environmental stewardship - as a calling of faith - should lead us to political and social activism.  We talked about living faith every day instead of only on one hour on Sunday mornings.  We talked of the difficult choices that lay before us, and acknowledged the complexity of the issue.

For this part of the session that focused explicitly on the God question, I had planned several talking points based on the premise that the increase in fuel prices represented a hardship.  However, these questions really didn't go anywhere, because for most of the people gathered for our discussion the increased expense of fuel was not a significant hardship (either because they do not drive much or because they can absorb in the increased cost without much difficulty).  Nonetheless, the preparation I put into these questions helped me even as the conversation moved in unplanned directions.

At about five minutes prior to the agreed upon time - 9pm - I wrapped up the conversation and closed with a prayer and the Lord's Prayer.

Overall, this event went exceedingly well.  A few changes I plan to make for next week:

• Ask the God question earlier.  We spoke for about 45 minutes about oil prices, and for 25-30 minutes about the God question.  I would like to spend a little more time on the explicit God question.
• Start slightly earlier.  This was our first night, and after introductions and a later start - to allow for mingling and casual introductions - we didn't get started to about 7:45-7:50.
• Offer more substantive God content.  I had two 4 minute NPR reports to initiate conversation about gasoline prices, but no multimedia to inspire the God conversation.  Next time I will seek a brief multimedia piece - from Here We Stand's video clips, NPR's Speaking of Faith, Nooma, SermonSpice, or some other resource.  At the least I will cite specific Biblical passages or liturgical/historical material.  We need something more concrete to inspire a good God conversation.
• We ended with a prayer, following which most of the folks promptly returned to their cars and drove home.  It felt too abrupt for me.  Next time I will try to wrap up our conversation in a way that allows for folks to continue the conversation even as some leave and we begin cleaning up the space.

Feel free to share your thoughts or insights.  As I get ready for next week's event I'll post additional thoughts and plans here.  Thanks!

Thursday morning update:

I was asked by someone for a list of future topics.  I don't have topics mapped out nor publicized ahead of time, and that is partially intentional.  As much as a topic is the central point of discussion, the exercise is about having a discussion about an ordinary "daily life" issue and, part way through, asking the "God Question" - what does God have to do with this? 

I care less about the issue than I do about that turn - the turn from the secular issue to the sacredness of the secular. 

The hope and intention of these gatherings is to model how to ask the "God Question" about anything, how to see God in/with/under the stuff of daily life.  I fear that if I publicize the issues ahead of time that these sessions will become "Hot Topics" debates, and that is not the intention.  The discussion issue is simply a catalyst for talking about God in daily life.

- - - - -

Below is posted - as a Word document - the outline I used for last evening's discussion.  I meant to hand out copies at the end, but I forgot . . . Oh well.  Click on the link and you'll be able to download the document.

Download gathering_1_oil_prices.doc

Brian Wilson for Commander in Chief

This is an oldie, but goodie. As McCain and Obama trade foreign policy accusations on the campaign trail, I ask if we want this reckless man as our Commander in Chief?  I'd rather have the Beach Boys in the Oval Office than this guy.

Pub Theology (minus the pub, minus the guru)

In the past few days I have researched the "pub theology" or "theology on tap" events that churches of various backgrounds - but largely Roman Catholic, from what I can tell - have done in recent years.  From what I can tell - and from what Beth commented on my previous post - the pub theology events seem to be fairly straight forward:

• Get a pub/bar with a semi-private space conducive to group conversation but open to newcomers
• Get a good speaker to present a topic/issue
• Drink beer and talk about it

What has surprised me is just how simple and straightforward this is.  This is essentially a Sunday morning adult forum that takes place in the evening at a bar.  Otherwise, the format - an expert sharing thoughts about a particular faith topic, followed by questions - is not very innovative.  But moving this discussion to a new location at a new time is more than a gimmick.  The move makes this discussion of faith and theology more open to a crowd of folks who might not flock to church on Sunday mornings - a new energy and dynamism is created, new questions are asked, and new community (hopefully!) is formed.  In this way it is an evangelism move, but also a move toward new and fresh reflection on life and faith.

Yet these events are largely serial in nature - 4 or 6 weeks in a row, and then nothing for several months.  They are expert-driven, and despite the discussion that ensues, it is largely dependent upon a guru to provide the fodder.  I'm not sure how much "community" is formed in this kind of setting, though perhaps that is not the goal.

Here at St John's by the Gas Station, we are initiating a "Summer Faith Fellowship" meeting Wednesday evenings in people's homes.  It is meant to be a time of loosely structured faith discussion and activity, a place for folks who might be intimidated by traditional Bible study to come, share and learn about faith.  Here's the description we've published in the newsletter and bulletin:

Come and share conversation about the stuff of life and wonder what God has to do with any of it.  From family and finances, to politics and current events, to American Idol and the internet, we'll discuss what's happening in our lives and what God is going about it.  We do not promise to have all the answers to our questions, but we will guarantee good questions  and honest conversation about life and faith. 

Come and share life.  Come and share faith.

Unlike many of the "pub theology" gatherings I saw profiled, our gatherings are not dependent upon a guru or single long-format presentation.  Rather, structured conversation and brief times for presentation and group activities will mark our time together.  We will also enjoy the hospitality of one of our members, who will offer snacks and drinks.

I'm still working on the format and content for our first gathering (Wednesday evening), but the general outline looks to be something like this:

• Gather for informal conversation and introductions (why are you here?)
• Discuss Hot Topic of the Day with various questions, reflections and (perhaps) activities (first topic likely to be gas prices).  If the group is large, we will break into smaller discussion groups.  As we get talking, the topic likely splits into several spin-off topics and areas of discussion.
• Part-way through the discussion, ask the God question - what does God have to do with any of this?  Introduce passages from the Bible or Christian tradition (quotes from saints, liturgy, etc.) that might have bearing on the issue, generating more conversation and reflection.
• Wrap up with Q&A, prayer, and suggestions for next week's topic.

I'm doing lots of prep work for our first gathering - from strategies for facilitating good conversation (it is too easy to kill a conversation) to content for discussion starters to passages from the Christian tradition that have something to say about the topic.

If you have any thoughts or ideas, please share in the comments below, or by posting something on your blog and sharing the link here!

Pub Theology - How's it done?

I'm beginning a summer series of down-to-earth faith & life conversations in homes (or backyards, decks, etc.) this summer.  Though I already have a bit of a plan, I'm wondering how those "Theology on Tap" or "Coffee House Theology" events are structured.  If you've ever led or attended such an event, please share your thoughts and insights here.  Thanks!

assembling & preaching, but not blogging much

The blog has been slowing down over the past month or so.  Not counting this post, I have written only five posts since Memorial Day.  There were times when I was writing five in a week's time.  Well, with three children, last month's Approval for Ordination interview and decision, and various church stuff going on, the blog has taken a back seat.  I wonder if the blog will end . . . it was born, after all, as my outlet to explore thoughts of theology and ministry while I was working outside the parish setting.  But now that I am in an internship and, more importantly, moving toward my ordination and call to a congregation, I wonder if this blog will no longer be necessary, or if it will serve the same purpose.  We'll see.

I just got back from synod assembly.  It was relatively low-key as far as synod assemblies go.  But besides seeing all kinds of folks, one of my highlights was serving as a liturgical streamer bearer, or as the Bishop called it, "that twirly thing."  These streamers were on the longest fishing pole I had ever seen - about 30 feet - and the streamers themselves were about 25 feet long, perhaps.  We held worship in a large gymnasium and two of us had these long streamers to swirl and twirl above the people during the processional hymn, the Gospel procession, and the recessional hymn.  Only once did we bang our twirlies and get tangled up . . . oh well.

Also, I've been preaching every Sunday for the past few weeks, but not at my internship church.  I've been preaching Sunday afternoons at the English-language service of an independent Korean Christian church.  The primary service is in Korean, but I serve the English-language service which is attended by non-Korean speaking children and spouses of the Korean membership.  It is a fascinating and interesting experience.  There is no lectionary, so I have been taking the opportunity to preach on stories that rarely - if ever - appear in the lectionary (tomorrow, for example, I'm preaching on Judges 6:11-24 - The Call of Gideon.  I've also preached on Deuteronomy 7:6-11, and Matthew 17:1-23, vs. 14-23 not appearing in the lectionary). 

That's the update.  If I get any deeper thoughts and an abiding desire to post them online, you'll be the first to know.  Thanks!