Preaching That Involves the Congregation

Preachers can prepare their sermons with respect to the needs of their people by engaging a representative group of people in conversation on Sunday’s text. Guidelines for group preparation and feedback are outlined below.

Method. A number of churches are offering Bible study on the texts their pastors intend to use in future sermons. Beginning ten days prior to the preaching of the sermon, the group meets to study the text. The preacher either leads the study or participates in the group, asking a layperson to lead. He or she listens closely to the questions and issues that emerge from the group’s discussion of the text. The minister listens for ideas and attitudes that will influence the development of the passage into a sermon. The preacher avoids explaining to the group the way he or she intends to treat the passage. The preacher is there to learn from the group, not to hint at a plan he or she has already developed for preparing the sermon.

In addition to the congregational study of selected texts prior to the sermon’s preparation, a sermon response group may also prove helpful. Members of this group should be chosen from a broad spectrum of the congregation and should meet at regular intervals—whether monthly, bimonthly, or quarterly—usually for about thirty minutes after the church service.

The pastor does not attend the sermon feedback discussion but instead asks that it be taped for him or her. A lay leader can enable the group to move through the process in the time allotted. Michael Williams, in his helpful book Preaching Peers (Discipleship Resources, 1987), suggests the following questions for the listening group to discuss: (1) What words, images, or ideas in the sermon had meaning to you? (2) Was there a clear relationship between the Scripture text and the sermon? (3) Did the sermon and the rest of the worship service tie together? (4) Was the sermon consistent with the person you have experienced the preacher to be? (5) Did the sermon’s delivery support or detract from its content? (6) What was the word of God for you in the sermon?

Using the Lectionary. The study groups and listening groups are especially fitting for lectionary preaching since the lectionary leads the congregation through the church year. For example, the study of Advent texts prepares the group both for the sermon and for the general celebration of Advent. If study group members use material based on the lectionary in their church school classes, this enriches their teaching as well as their listening to the sermon.

When the preacher and congregation follow the lectionary, they move together through the seasons of the church year, preparing for and celebrating the central events of the Christian faith. This is a learning opportunity for all ages as the congregation reflects on the two great cycles of salvation: Advent—Christmas—Epiphany and Lent—Easter—Pentecost. The congregation may want to learn more about the origin of these celebrations, and about ways to make them more meaningful today. Developed by Hoyt Hickman and other leaders in the contemporary liturgical movement, the Handbook of the Christian Year (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1986) is a comprehensive guide to an ecumenical series of services for the renewal and deepening of worship. The book offers background, services for Sundays and special days, and texts and pastoral commentary. It can help each congregation develop its own traditions and unique ways of celebrating the various seasons of the Christian year.

The lectionary gives a focus and discipline both to preaching and to the church’s life. Unchanneled energy is easily dissipated, but energy channeled through the lectionary can enable Christians to relate their faith to the world in which they live, to relate preaching, worship, and the seasons of the church year, and more effectively to anticipate and celebrate the festivals of the Christian year.