Effective worship leading requires much more than just nailing down its technical aspects. As important as or more important than technical skills are the worship leader’s relationship with God and with others, his or her spiritual walk, knowledge of Scripture, attitudes, lifestyle, self-discipline, and understanding of music.
A constant enemy of worship leaders is busyness, for it takes them away from the all-important time spent with God. Other aspects of personal preparation for worship leading include knowing the needs of the congregation one serves; beginning preparations for services early in the week, if not weeks ahead of time (by choosing sermon themes far in advance); and seeking input from others.
Authentic preaching is responsible for its place in the total Christian community. It belongs not only to the preacher, but also to the congregation. It reflects the memory and expectation of the people of God in times past and in times present. It is rooted in the Word and standing in the world. True preaching steps onto the bridge between the mundane and the majestic, between mud and stars, and, recognizing the awesome mystery of the preached Word, dares to speak for God.
In recent years, as more and more women are able to fulfill their calling to ministry through ordination and pastoral ministry, more and more women are preaching. What does this mean for worship and spirituality? If Christian worshipers are hearing the Word preached by women, how does this change worship? Will preaching change as more and more women do it?
Although there were many lay preachers in the early church, their style of preaching quickly fell into disuse as the pulpit became dominated by the ordained clergy. The new code of the Canon Law of the Roman church now allows lay people to preach once again under special circumstances. This article summarizes the value of lay preaching in the Roman Catholic Church.
Christian storytelling is rooted in the ancient Jewish tradition of telling stories. In telling the story, its reality and power are made present to the hearers, so that by entering into the story they experience its significance and power to shape their perspectives and the living out of their own stories of faith.
Storytelling is an art that needs to be developed in today’s churches. Storytellers succeed through using dialogue, developing action and plot, opening up the imagination, and learning how to tell the story well. The following entry is one pastor’s account of the transforming power of story in his own preaching. Its original title, “Spinning Yarns,” suggests the necessity of retaining the first-person perspective because the best stories are our stories—stories told from personal experience.
Preaching through a biblical book, also known as lectio continua (Latin, meaning to read continuously) is presented here from the Reformed perspective as a viable option to preaching through the lectionary or preaching topical sermons.
Since the time of the Protestant Scholastics, sermons have been designed according to a schema: subtilitas intelligendi, subtilitas explicandi, subtilitas applicandi—careful understanding, explication, and application. A text was exegeted, interpreted, and applied in what was often a tri-part sermon.