Teaching Preaching Teams

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Teaching Preaching Teams

• Source CCN seminar, John Ortberg,
  www.ccnonline.net , Jan. 2002
• John.chandler_at_vbmb.org

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Major Issues Impacting Preaching and
Congregational Life

• Pastoral exhaustion
• Abbreviated tenure
• Succession issues
• Vulnerability of the pastor as a human being
• Subjection of the congregation to an unbalanced
  diet

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How to address?

• By making preaching a less solitary and
  individualistic enterprise
• Bring to bear the gifts of the whole body of
  Christ on the preaching event
• Not just worship or congregational life

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Out of the cubicle!

• Modern preaching as a solitary enterprise
• Postmodern preaching as from community to
  community

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Encouraging Community Preaching

• Preaching teams
• Utilize spiritual gifts of knowledge, wisdom,
  teaching
• Take advantage of life experience, expertise, and
  research focus
• Create recognition in preparers and credibility
  in hearers

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3 Ways to Teach Preaching Teams

• 1. Classroom
• Low-structure before and during meetings
• Intentional half- or whole-day events in church
  life

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3 Ways to Teach Preaching Teams

• 2. Coaching
• Utilizes principles from other settings and
  customizes
• Can be high-structure engineered or
  spontaneous-organic
• Seminars (attend, import, host)
• Retreats

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3 Ways to Teach Preaching Teams

• 3. Mentoring
• Relationship-based
• Ebbs and flows based on teachability and
  intensity of situation

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A Jump-Start Tip

• Most churches have a ringer (potential)
  preacher
• Spend early bulk of time with this individual
• Their progress will model the way for others to
  follow

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Then

• Think in terms of planning 6-12 months worth of
  preaching
• Connected to congregational mission
• Series generally 2-5 weeks
• Allows for depth in research
• Avoids Monday a.m. panic

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Where to begin in forming a team

• Collect 3-6 sharp, articulate thinkers, readers,
  and speakers from the congregation.
• Dont neglect introverts!

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Where to begin

• 2. Convene a half-day brainstorming event.
• Pre-orient participants
• Ask each to bring 2-3 general series ideas
  connected to perceived personal, community, or
  congregational needs

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Where to begin

• Pick and parse the cant miss series.
• File the (not yet ripe) good ideas

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Where to begin

• 4. Assign series research to invested persons.
• Keep material collection folders on each series
• And perhaps a single sermon to protégés

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1. Start by developing the whole series.
Once you get to a single series

• Plan start dates and publicize titles/texts to
  allow invitation opportunities for attenders.
• Hint start a series on Easter
• Provides avenue for congregation input and a
  planning window for inviting and attending
• Asks what would you like to hear preached?

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2. Clarify the big idea of the message.
Then, once you get to the individual sermon

• Craddock No one has a right to points who does
  not have a point.
• which is why preaching is always immersed in
  prayer!
• Focus what it says
• Function what it does

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Focus on beginning and endings.

• Sermon introduction not an attention grabber, but
  overture
• Answers the question, Why is it urgently
  important to talk about what were about to talk
  about?
• What are costs/benefits re topic?
• Pay more attention to the conclusion than the
  intro!
• End with, Where is Jesus in all of this?

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3. Do the research.

• Part of loving the Lord your God with all your
  mind.
• Collect research from team
• They have been looking out for ideas since the
  retreat
• Ask especially for metaphors and stories

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4 Types of Research Needed

• 1. Research the text
• Gods will
• 2. Research life
• culture, local and global
• 3. Research myself (as a Christian)
• What is God doing in my life now?
• Caution dont let the sermon function as
  personal therapy

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4 Types of Research Needed

• 4. Research your congregation.
• Whats everyone here talking about?
• What sins do folk here struggle with?
• How will different people here hear this message?
  (age, life situation, journey)
• Pick 5
• What are peoples longings and hopes?
• Where does the church need to go how will this
  message help?

God
Self
Culture
Congregation
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• Is this what God is calling me to preach?
• Whats my relationship with this church?
• How does our church engage its local culture?
• In what ways can our culture be redeemed?
• Is God present in our congregation?
• How am I engaged within our culture?

The Preaching Diamond
God
d
a
e
Culture
Self
f
b
c
Congregation
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4. Begin writing moves.

• Balance your own research or speaking
  preference
• Identify the structure Im going to teach on
  (moves)
• Not points but flow and end of story
• Reading short stories
• What objections would I face at each turn of the
  sermon?
• Understand behavior change happens through
  example, not exhortation
• And not through ought, must, and should

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Telling stories that connect

• Include ample (1/3) dialogue within any story
• The drama is in the story details
• the best story tellers turn ears into eyes
• Tell the story (active voice) instead of telling
  about the story (passive)
• Use the characters voice instead of the
  reporters voice
• Capitalizes on our love of eavesdropping and
  overhearing
• Make no character gt 97 good or evil
• believability issues

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5. Hack the baby down to size!

• Editing feels like amputation!
• Dont fall to temptation to use superfluous
  stories simply because theyre good stories
• Save for later youll need it!
• Imagine what it would look like for people to
  follow the message, and include only material
  that will contribute toward that end

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6. Structure and practice delivery.

• Use the mirror and the woods
• Lets go to the videotape.
• Best way to get rid of invisible annoying habits
• Single biggest delivery problem lack of energy,
  passion

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Assessing delivery

• S.H.A.P.E.S.
• Simplicity clear about the point
• Humor finesse and indirection
• Authenticity preaching to myself
• Passion emotional intensity, courage
• Energy -- urgency
• Spontaneity sensitivity to H.S., jazz

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7. Make room for evaluation.

• Watch game film
• The issue is not gaining but keeping the hearer
• Mistake louder is not profounder
• Utilize your team and ask them to respond with
  discernment, honesty, and love
• Address research, structure, delivery

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The criteria for assessing effective preaching

• 1. What do people now understand?
• mind
• 2. What do people now do as a result of this
  message?
• will
• 3. What do people now feel?
• heart ( the most difficult)

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The Goal

• Our goal is not to get people all the way
  through the Bible, but to get the Bible all the
  way through the people.
• Good preaching transforms people who transform
  people

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Teaching Preaching Teams

• Dr. John P. Chandler
• Courageous Churches
• Virginia Baptist Mission Board
• John.chandler_at_vbmb.org
• Copy Right John P. Chandler, 2002