The benefits of sermon teams
The November 29 edition of Preaching Now has a thought-provoking quote on team sermon development. Why work in teams to develop sermons? Here's a quote from Len Wilson and Jason Moore:
I've heard about these kinds of things but never knew any preachers personally who worked in teams to develop sermons. How about you?
"There are multiple problems with working alone, including loneliness and busyness. One of the worst, though, is that a bad idea remains a bad idea. Most of the time, lone sermon planners don't know it's a bad idea until the words spring from their mouth as they are delivering the message. This is mostly avoided in a team environment where creativity is exponential and a bad idea is a path to a good one. Learning to trust in the power of a team takes lots of time and many small steps, but results in savings of time as well as better worship."
I've heard about these kinds of things but never knew any preachers personally who worked in teams to develop sermons. How about you?
posted by Milton Stanley at 1:46 PM
8 Comments:
Thanks for posting this, Milton. I've had the experience of working on such a team and think it is a worthwhile endeavor. I used to meet weekly with the two pastors on our staff who did the bulk of the preaching to discuss the text for the coming Sunday. Whoever was scheduled to preach would give a thumbnail sketch of the direction he was thinking of going and the other two would give feedback.
I think the collaborative effort was an effective safeguard against error as well as a model (on a small scale) of the kind of interaction that should characterize the body of Christ. While my gift is teaching, I don't feel particularly able in the area of crafting a sermon so I benefited from seeing how the others did it while still being able to contribute to pulpit ministry behind the scenes.
I would encourage others to experiment with this approach but I fear that some would find it "inefficient" to have more than one person involved in the preparation of messages.
Thanks for sharing your experience, Keith. It's something I'm keeping in mind to try when the time seems right.
By the way, I really enjoyed your post "IM one another" and plan to link to it here this week. Be encouraged, and please keep up the good work. Peace.
An interesting concept. I know of pastors who use their wives as sounding boards to keep from committing that "bad idea" failure you mentioned, but I don't think that would be the same thing.
I know what you mean. My wife is my best reality check when I think about going out on a limb.
I have never seen it happen outside of a pastor / pastor's wife situation, though I know some pastor's that "pitch" the topic to the youth minister or a the church secretary if they are unsure.
I know from my teaching experiance, not preaching mind you though I have done that a few times, I generally know which ideas are less then great and those are the ones that I get feedback on. I do not look for feedback when I know I have a winner. That system has yet to fail me, but that is just me.
I was one of the preaching pastors for whom Keith provided insights that often saved me from telling people things that weren't in the text. I have since moved to a church where I am on my own in preparing sermons. I really miss Keith and his questions to keep me honest.
Thanks for the input, Frank. If I ever do it, will you be on my sermon e-team?
Thanks for sharing your thoughts here, Jerry, and for your good work at "open eyes." Peace.
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