The classroom setting can be a difficult and awkward place to preach. For starters, your "congregation" are students eager to critique your every move and take notice at each misspoken word. At the front of the room rests the perched hawk (read: professor) in all of her wisdom waiting to prey on the vulnerable. Actually, the scene is not this dramatic but often it is hard not to feel this way. Preparing a "word of the Lord" is hard in a context that is designated for critique, dissection, and academic learning. How do you preach to preachers?
I had the chance to preach this last week in my class on narrative preaching. I found, to my surprise, that the experience was quite delightful. The professor, R. Grace Imathiu is a UMC pastor in Milwaukee, WI and a highly sought renowned preacher. Grace was incredibly insightful and her lectures on preaching in narrative were beyond helpful. Preaching with Grace in the room was not as intimidating as I thought it might be. She listened well and was helpful in her suggestions, namely, that I cut my sermon by 3 minuets to trim to the froth (my sermon was only 11 min. long). The class was very encouraging and not nearly as cynical as I thought they would be. Actually, they were critical and I found for the first time that I appreciated this time as much as preaching in front of a "regular" congregation.
The classroom setting allowed for the class to engage the preacher in a way that a congregation can't. In the classroom the preacher is vulnerable to and should be open to suggestions on delivery, method, and theology. In this context the classroom serves as a lab where in the congregation the lab process should have already happened before you reach the pulpit. I am learning that as a preacher, I should not rely on the congregation to critique and advise my sermons. I am open to their suggestions and feedback but the sermon in the congregation is the Word of the Lord and it is different than being in a "lab".
Preaching in class has taught me to appreciate both the lab and the sanctuary.
Posted on
Mon, September 7, 2009
by Jake Edwards