Due to a high level of interest in my previous post “Inclusive or Exclusive Worship?” I decided to pull out a couple of posts in a previous series called Expansive Worship that continues this topic. Last week, I targeted children’s sermons, which must have hit a nerve since engagement was off (my) charts! This week’s target is the “adult” sermon.

Last week’s target: the children’s sermon. This week: the “adult” sermon. Let those with ears hear, but will they listen to a sermon? Can they? Who is excluded?

Inclusive Worship, Exclusive Preaching

Depending upon who you ask, the sermon is the heart of the worship service.* It is the proclamation of the Gospel around which the rest of the service is arranged. Therefore, in a conversation about how the weekly corporate worship service can become more inclusive and expansive, the sermon must be addressed. And, unfortunately, the sermon can unintentionally be exclusive and counter to expansive worship. There are better ways, including ways that involve Christian educators and everyone else.

* In some traditions the celebration of Communion/Eucharist is the heart, but, even then, the sermon is a close second. I’m not going to include Communion in this blog series because a) the ritual is already multi-sensory and participatory, b) the tradition is quite prescriptive and difficult to change, and c) a simple blog post is not going to change your mind on what age people should be before being allowed to participate.

Preaching, Speaking

A traditional sermon is basically a speech (or lecture). A single preacher stands in front of the congregation and speaks on a spiritual topic (often based on a Bible passage) for 10-30+ minutes. I’m not going to say that there is anything wrong with giving a speech, per se. But a speech is limited. Speeches, regardless of the topics, can be somewhere between engaging and boring. And they will only reach a portion of worshippers.

Learning Differently

We know that different people learn best in different ways. More importantly, everyone learns best when multiple parts of their brain are engaged.

The problem is that a traditional sermon is directed solely at the aural (hearing) learning pathway. This works for some people but not for others. By addressing only one sense (and really only in one way), you are leaving a lot of people out. I, for one, can learn by only listening, but it is not as effective. [And don’t get me started on the oral readings of Scripture from non-narrative portions of the Bible like the Epistles, Prophets, or Psalms. That’s a conversation for a different time (like next week).]

Assumed Knowledge

Another exclusionary factor of your traditional sermon is that it requires prior knowledge and understanding. This is natural. The preacher assumes that worshippers understand the language they are using, the specific vocabulary, general concepts and knowledge, and even the particular context of the preacher and community. This is a necessary part of a speech. (And writing.) You must start somewhere. Preachers can be more or less aware of this and be more or less conscious of overcoming this exclusionary hurdle. However, it is likely that some portion of the newbies (children, youth, and visitors) will be left out and lost.

Related to this is the fact that a sermon is about transmitting to others the knowledge, interpretation, and experiences of a single person. Again, a preacher can be more or less aware of this and work to include a greater number of perspectives. But it is likely that a portion of worshippers will be left out.

Preaching vs. Proclamation

Before you yell at me for the heresy of tossing out the traditional sermon (which I will do below), I want to point out that there is a difference between preaching and proclamation (in a Christian sense, as I’m using the terms). Preaching is a type of proclamation, namely proclamation through a speech (sermon). But proclamation is a much bigger category. Proclamation is about transmitting the good news to others, by any means necessary. It is about the goal, not specifically the method.

Proclamation as Faith Formation

It should not come as a surprise that a blog called “Forming Faith” will get around to faith formation sooner or later. My definition of faith formation is:

Every action, experience, or relationship that nurtures a transformative relationship of trust with God and shapes the way we see and interact with God’s world.

Isn’t the purpose of proclamation to nurture (foster) a transformative relationship of trust with God empowered by the Holy Spirit? Listening to a sermon is an experience, so that’s not even left out. (Worship is an important part of this, too!) But limiting proclamation to a sermon leaves out action and relationships.

Expansive Faith Formation, Expansive Proclamation

Within faith formation, we should have a motto like “No person is left behind.” In our proclamation, this means creating a time to engage worshippers in the good news. Here are a few suggestions, though these can either replace the sermon or be added to it.

1. Re-contextualized storytelling: If your purpose is to bring worshippers into the story of God in Scripture, then tell or retell the story! You can recontextualize the story in a modern setting, use sensory details, or have worshippers participate in some way (skit, movement, refrain, etc.).  
2. Participation: Instead of passively listening to a sermon, challenge worshippers to participate in some way with self-reflection, conversation, drawing, doodling, telling their stories, or touching an object (water, play dough, even an orange!).
3. Multisensory experiences: Whatever you do, I would highly recommend trying to engage as many senses as possible, even if worshippers need to imagine the scent or taste of something.
4. Relationship-building: Use part of your time to help worshippers get to know each other and start to build relationships, especially across generations. Please note that if you are asking people to talk to each other, it is helpful to some people (introverts especially) to start with a short period of self-reflection before moving into the conversation.

A key to all of this is that worshippers are no longer passive recipients, but active participants. They can start from wherever they are and engage in faith formation.

Objection: Deep vs. Shallow

One objection I have heard is that making worship/the sermon engaging for all generations means that it will keep the experience shallow and not deep (milk and not meat if you prefer that analogy). I think that this rests on a few fallacies:

1. The sermon is the time to dig deeply and abstractly into the Bible passage. It’s really not. As I mentioned above, not every adult is able to learn best by listening. A really deep dive into a passage will often exclude visitors and newbies (even if we’re dismissing children and youth at the moment). And a sermon chock full of information is often boring. If you want to dive deeply into a passage, attend a Bible study (and I hope you do!).
2. You cannot express profound concepts in an engaging way. This is just untrue. The best way to teach and express profound topics of faith is by starting with the basics and guiding with engaging techniques (e.g., stories, visuals, actions, conversations).
3. Children aren’t capable of learning profound topics of faith. While it is true that children aren’t fit for a discussion on the theology of Luther/Calvin/Barth/Wesley/(pick your favorite theologian), neither are most adults! In a quote often attributed to Albert Einstein: “If you can’t explain it to a six-year-old, you don’t understand it yourself.” And you might be surprised at how profound children can actually be.

Overall, spend some time reflecting on the purpose of your sermon time and how it can be changed or added to in your context to be more engaging and inclusive to more people. Include your other faith formation leaders in this time of reflection and re-imagination. Your Christian ed teachers can really help!

[Requisite plug: If you are using the Narrative Lectionary, check out our Living the Word: Cross+Gen Worship resource to help with all of this!]

In the love of Christ,

Gregory Rawn (Publisher)

Order Faith Formation Resources

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