Several months ago, I was having a casual lunch with a minister colleague. Enjoying and appreciating this time of friendship and mutual support, we covered an array of topics. The one topic that began to dominate our conversation, and probably dominates most conversations when ministers gather together, was the subject of “preaching.”
These types of discussions can range from sharing the last sermon preached — including the highs and lows of that preaching moment — to talking about ideas concerning the development process for sermonic preparation. Many times, a discussion on preaching will eventually lead to talking about a sermon that one has read, heard or experienced.
On this particular day, my colleague began talking about a sermonic event that he had recently experienced. According to my colleague, he attended a worship service which he described as a “powerfully anointed” beginning. He described how the worshippers were singing and praising God with great fervor. He talked about the tremendous excitement in the air that he could only articulate as the presence of the Holy Spirit. As he put it, “the church was on fire!”
As the preacher stood up to preach, my colleague described how he began sitting on the edge of his seat as he awaited to hear an earth-shattering sermon. Following the traditions of this particular church context, the preacher read the chosen text and announced the topic. My colleague became even more excited as he sat with anticipation! But when the preacher began preaching, a cloud of disappointment soon fell upon my colleague.
When I inquired about the reasons for his sudden disappointment, my colleague stated empathetically, “The preacher seemed to struggle to effectively communicate the message and relate to the worshippers. What should have been a high moment filled with the expectation of hearing a clear message from the Lord turned out to be a low point for the entire worship experience.”
My colleague then raised the following challeng ing questions: (1) Instead of being critical, how can we help preachers become better prepared for the sermonic event? (2) How can we help preachers convey their sermonic message more effectively? (3) Can we provide an avenue through which preachers can obtain additional training to enhance their skill levels in her-meneutics and homiletics?
This challenging interchange led us down a path of reflection about our own preaching experiences and our desire to remain faithful to the task of sermon preparation and delivery. Under-standing that we were both ambassadors of Christ charged with the task of communicating the gospel to the church and world, we began feeling that it was our responsibility as preachers to represent our Lord to the best of our ability with our various God given gifts and talents. For us, this meant a continual growth spiritually as disciples as well as in the art of communicating the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Joel C. Gregory, in his lecture series entitled “How to Preach,” refers to preaching as “a speech event” which must: (1) remain a high point and priority for the preacher and the church; (2) contain a variety of ways in presenting the Word of God in the pulpit; (3) raise the level of expectation that would lead to anticipation regarding the preached word in our churches; and (4) incorporate the possibility of future skills development that focus on church planters, ministers, and pastors of various preaching backgrounds and experiences.
It was this divine conversation that served as the genesis of The Preaching Camp.
The idea of conducting such a preaching camp was taken to the African American Fellowship of Virginia. The purpose for taking this idea to the AAFV was to: (a) garner their input and support through authentic dialogue on the subject matter; (b) conduct a survey on preaching in order to ascertain the needs of our Virginia Baptist churches; and (c) determine the AAFV’s level of commitment to sending their associate ministers and participating themselves in the event. This group of godly men and women became excited about the possibilities and welcomed the idea.
On May 17-18, the African American Fellowship of the Baptist General Association of Virginia conducted the inaugural Preaching Camp at the Vision Community Church in Fredericksburg, Va., where Ron Willis is the pastor. The theme for this event was “Fire in my Bones” from Jeremiah 20:9. The participants spent a day and a half in a small intimate setting exploring and sharpening their skills in the art of sermon preparation and delivery.
Truly, “fire was in the bones” of the eight teaching and preaching practitioners who instructed, inspired and encouraged more than 50 gospel preachers who attended this event.
During this day and a half experience, we explored four methods of sermon preparation. To ensure that the participants would gain the most from this experience, they were encouraged to ask questions in a 40-minute in-depth dialogue session of the preaching camp. There were no shortages of questions as the camp participants engaged the practitioners.
Due to the overwhelming success of the first Preaching Camp, we are in the process of planning a second Preaching Camp. The dates are Oct. 18 -19 at East End Baptist Church, 523 E. Washington Street, Suffolk, Va., 23434. Mark Croston is the senior pastor. More information can found at www.vbmb.org/Events/default.cfm.
On July 17, 2013, Ralph Douglas West, pastor of Church Without Walls in Houston, posted this prayer on Facebook regarding preaching: “Lord God, especially in this country, people seem to have hardened their hearts against the gospel message —perhaps because they’ve heard it so often and delivered in the same way. Give us the flexibility and creativity to change our methods so we can tune in to people instead of turning them off. Amen.” May our prayers regarding preaching be similar if not the same!
Jerome O. Lee is coordinator of the Preaching Camp of the African American Fellowship of Virginia/BGAV.