Issue 30 Welcome the StrangerBlog | How I prepare by Catharine Hughes
How I prepare by Catharine Hughes
Author: Andy PeckPost Date: 20.03.22
Sermon preparation can be a messy business. I would love to write this article with a step-by step process that I follow without fail, and that can lead you – the reader – to a perfect service and sermon every time. In recent preaching studies for college, I was struck by the number of ministers who had a Sunday service all sorted by Monday (at the latest Tuesday) and the rest of the week was merely spent refining a perfectly formed sermon. They would be horrified by my stressful Fridays and Saturday night panics!
As a Methodist, I am scheduled to preach in a variety of local churches each quarter, each with its own ministry and style. Usually, when the plan is produced, I look through the lectionary readings for the Sundays I am due to preach, noting if there are any ‘special Sundays’ and acknowledging the specific circumstances of any given congregation. Nearer the date, I will revisit the readings: ideally about two weeks before, but if necessary the Monday (or the Tuesday…). This is a focused and prayerful time, aiming to seek God’s guidance as to what message is right. I can then take current affairs into account as well.
I feel it important to wrestle with the Bible by myself first. When I know which reading I will be focusing on, I look it up on biblegateway.com in at least three different versions and print them out alongside each other. I scribble all over this printout, reading the passage(s) over and over again, highlighting words or phrases that repeat, bits that may be particularly relevant to the theme, and – above all – asterisking all the parts that are peculiar and incomprehensible. I look at the biblical context and at any other passages that might resonate or be referred to. Finally (after I’ve walked away and made a cup of tea to clear my head), I reread the original passage, imagining I’m in the congregation and this is the one and only time I hear it. What stands out? What strikes me as odd, or hurtful, or relevant to today’s news?
