I’m on the look out for innovative approaches to the sermon slot. Does anyone know of any congregations,communities, that are attempting to engage with the Bible seriously in ways other than the traditional monologue sermon? I am particularly interested in stuff happening in the context of a wider act of worship. Any suggestions? I plan to visit so I can see for myself so best steer clear of edgy and interesting experiments in New Zealand. I am feeling quite adventurous though, so I am prepared to venture south of Sheffield!
2 comments:
Hi Glen,
In my last church (I've just moved) I experimented with dialogue sermons (adapted from the conversations in Brian McLaren's 'A New Kind of Christian' trilogy). I scripted the conversations and then invited a member of the congregation to join me on the platform to read it through. Some people loved it; others hated it with a vengeance! And listening to a two-way conversation is a very different skill from listening to a traditional monologue. I'd think twice before trying that again.
Today (Sunday 23rd November) I led my congregation in 20 minutes Lectio Divina rather than a sermon. That seemed to work well.
Hope that helps.
God bless.
Marcus Bull
revmadbull@hotmail.co.uk
Glen, before we sacked the evening service for The Sunday Night Project, we tried several different things.
1. Retelling. But it was a monologuge.
2. Retelling and dialogue. This worked particularly well. Two of us prepared the retelling. Read it and then discussed it.
3. Open conversation. I did the preparation on the passage. Created a few questions to kick it off. It worked well and became the main form of sermon, before we abandoned sermons for a bit more active mission.
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