Adult Programs Idea: A Lay Preaching Workshop

By Rev. John Morehouse
Pacific Unitarian Church
Rancho Palos Verdes, CA

The “Preacher's Workshop” began as an effort to help congregants deliver better sermons on the Sundays when the minister is not in the pulpit. It occurred to me that we had plenty of bright, articulate people in the church with something to say; we just needed a way to improve the delivery. What began as an effort in quality control has become a vibrant adult program called the Lay Preaching Workshop.

The Lay Preaching Workshop starts with an open signup. The workshop is limited to ten participants because five 2-hour sessions provides only enough time to hear ten sermons. Ten is also a great number for discussion and feedback. The format is simple: each session begins with an opening reading in the sanctuary, followed by a short presentation on some aspect of preaching and then the sermons. After each sermon, the group offers constructive comments. I remind the group that just as in preaching we “speak the truth in love,” so too in our comments must we speak the truth in love. And I also remind them that they will each be in the pulpit themselves!

The opening session provides background material about preaching. This includes overviews of preaching in the Unitarian Universalist context, the nature of congregational polity, and ministry and the free pulpit. It also includes tips on constructing a sermon. A sermon is much more than a lecture: it must engage and speak to the congregation. Ideally I urge participants to tell their own story in the context of their message. It is that confessional sense which is so transformative, not only to the person preaching but to the group. I have witnessed people become not only better preachers but more understanding. Some never preach their sermon to the congregation—they only preach it to this small, safe group. Still, the workshop expectation is that each participant will deliver a sermon to the congregation during the course of the church year.

The homework after the first session is to write a double-spaced, full sermon by the next session. Some balk at that, but they realize how “present tense” sermon writing is. Participants are provided with comments from the minister. Remaining sessions consist of hearing participants' sermons. Participants learn about delivery techniques, how to use a microphone, body language, voice modulation, and most of all, the use of stories. Fellow participants become cheerleaders as well as skilled listeners.

The result of the workshop is a slate of preachers, ready to speak a message from the heart. They have sermons ready to share. Those not preaching are encouraged to lead the other parts of the service as a team. It is a tremendous ministry, setting free the voice of the laity. I know of one participant who is even planning on going into seminary soon. Perhaps even more important is how much I have learned from these people I have the privilege to hear. It is transforming for me as well.

Printed resources for leaders and participants include:

• Thematic Preaching by Rev. Jane Rzepka and Rev. Ken Sawyer, Chalice Press, 2001.
• Preaching Better: Practical Suggestions for Homilists by Kenneth Untener, Paulist Press, 1999. (Christian emphasis, yet very useful to non-Christians.)
• The Relational Pulpit by Rev. Scott Alexander, Skinner House Books, 1993. (Out of print.)
• Transforming Words, second edition, edited by Rev. Bill Schulz, Skinner House Books, 1996. (Out of print.)