For Those Who Preach Every Sunday

This post is for those solo pastors without much staff who preach almost every Sunday of their lives. Last week – the Sunday after Easter – is commonly known as a High Holiday for Associate Pastors and Guest Preachers, unless you are a solo pastor. Fortunate solo pastors took a vacation day. Many did not.

Even if you’re the Senior Minister of a multi-staffed congregation, you probably don’t have to preach every Sunday. And some pastors rarely preach because they have a different role (associate pastor, assistant pastor, parish associate.)

Again, this post is for those solo pastors who stand in pulpits almost every Sunday of their lives. And then they wake up on Monday morning and have to/get to start thinking about next Sunday. The relentlessness of weekly preaching is not for the fainthearted. Some of our sermons are gold and some are – frankly – dross because we can’t humanly create brilliance every single week.

After many years of preaching almost every Sunday and later loving people who do that, I have some ideas. These ideas are not about being lazy pastors. They are about the spiritual health of congregations.

• Negotiate a plan between the solo pastor and the church leaders that every six weeks, you will not be the preacher because one of the elders will preach that day. (!) In my denomination – the PCUSA – elders can preach “when appropriately prepared” and – as spiritual leaders – elders are expected to be able to articulate their faith and study Scripture. Youth often preach on “Youth Sunday” and preaching “on a regular Sunday” conveys to the congregation that the faith and leadership of young people is not “cute;” it’s as powerful as that of any member. Share that pulpit.
• Invite a local leader to do a dialogue sermon with you about what they do at work. This still takes preparation but not as much preparation as a standard sermon. Especially if your congregation needs to broaden their awareness of what’s going on in the neighborhood, invite the guidance counselor from the closest school or the local sheriff or a county medical clinician and practice sharing this kind of dialog on a Sunday morning:
  • Pastor: We welcome today ______________ whom some of you might know from the community. They are the ___________ for our town. It’s great to see you, _____________ and thanks for being here. We are First Church in the Valley and we are active in the community with ____________ but we want to hear about what you see as the needs in our neighborhood from your perspective. Maybe you can share what an average day looks like on the job.
  • Guest: Well, every day is different. (And then person gives details about what things come up at their school/fire department/health clinic/jail/shelter/Head Start Center/Community Center. It’s great to give as many specifics as they can.)
  • THE CONVERSATION CONTINUES TO GO BACK AND FORTH NATURALLY IN TERMS OF WHAT THE GUEST SEES AS NEEDS IN THE COMMUNITY.
  • Pastor: So what could a congregation like ours offer to address these needs. (This question requires preparation on the Guest’s part.)
  • Guest:
    • We could use 4 hair dryers for the unhoused girls who have permission to use the teacher’s lounge for showering.
    • We don’t need any more socks or gloves at the shelter. But we really need new packages of underwear.
    • We do Senior Projects in our high school every year and there are applications in the back if any of you would like to be mentors for Senior Projects.
    • We have a clothing closet with winter clothes at our elementary school and we’re handing out lists of particular needs and sizes.
    • The morale of our teachers at the Head Start Preschool is very low. If you’d like to donate fast food gift cards, we would love to share them with our teachers.

Okay, whew. I didn’t intend for this post to be a workbook. But there is no reason why Sunday mornings – including the message proclaimed – needs to be the way it’s always been.

Preaching is about interpreting Scripture and proclaiming Good News. It would be good news to solo pastors if the Sunday Preaching duties could be shared a few times a year. And it would develop the spiritual leadership of the Body.

And finally, a special thanks to all who filled pulpits on the First Sunday After Easter whether you are a solo pastor or a student pastor or an associate pastor or an elder: it’s helpful to hear a different voice tell us about Doubting Thomas.

Image is the pulpit in the Castle Church in Wittenburg, Germany.