Yesterday I attended a kind of masterclass thingy on preaching... some top class speakers but an abyssmal turn-out meant two workshops were cancelled, including the one I wanted to attend (wish they'd done a straw poll to see which were most popular and dropped the two least rather than two people simply dropping themselves, c'est la vie).
One of the sessions invited us to reflect on what we think preaching is - it's aim and purposes - as well as its style and content. A useful reminder, if pretty basic stuff.
Today I split our sermon slot into three bits, each a reflection in its own right arising from questions Jesus was asked in the days leading up to his execution... on taxes, on resurrection and on the Law. We used some objects which people could take away, some images and quite a few words, spoken and sung. It seemed to go OK.
This evening I'm actively not preaching, I'm reflecting on One World Week and using some interactive stuff as a prayer/response.
What is preaching? I guess for me it is 'breaking the Word' as we use words to seek after the WORD. It is open-minded, open-hearted, somehow playful engagement with ancient texts whose dynamism and vitality can inform, transform and re-from faith and life in the here and now. It is always partial, always provisional, always of necessity a bit tentative.
I've had some fun this week and again today... and I hope it has had some resonance for others too.
