Hearing Someone Else

I attended the church where I have been doing pulpit supply to hear their lay leader speak. This was the first time I attended a regular worship service at this church. The lay leader I believe also holds the title of Sessions Chair.

The message was a very good one based on Colossians. The sermon began talking about how, now that it is the end of January, most of our resolutions for changed behavior have been broken already. He talked about the things that we need to do that are biblical. He had three points (I did not take notes, so just know there were three of them) that the Bible in Colossians calls for us to adhere to. He did a very nice job tying scripture to scripture to support his points. I was not surprised to see that this church uses a biblical based model for their sermon/teachings.

After the service, the speaker said to me, "way to put the pressure on, having a pastor in the pews". I took this moment to say, "do you might if I offer a suggestion?" He said, "sure." I then proceeded to tell him that I thoroughly enjoyed his sermon, that he had all the points, and that it flowed from topic to topic. The suggestion I made was to be sure to write to speak. I noted that we do not normally speak in the same way that we speak and that the places he stumbled were very good sentences to write, but they did not flow off the tongue. In the future, after he writes what he wants to say, go back and read it for speaking. He may need to actually read out loud the sermon, or just read it slowly (rather than a quick reread before entering the pulpit) in order to find those awkward to say sentences.

I hope he understood this as a help, not a critique.

His mother would love for him to take courses to become certified in their tradition to carry credentials as a pastor (like a CLM or LP in The UMC) and embrace what she sees as his call. He himself is dedicated to seeing this local church survive and even thrive, but does not want to take on the role of pastor.

I will continue to pray for this congregation as they struggle with determining their long term future.