‘He didn’t preach from the heart… it’s not the same unless
they preach from the heart!’ I can still remember the critique offered by my
grandmother on the Sunday that we’d returned from church, having witnessed, in
her opinion, the performance of a second-rate minister. He was exposed as such
by the fact that he’d dared to use notes for his sermon. From time to time,
this critique comes back to haunt me, as most Sundays I step into the pulpit
with a fully script in my hand.
I was reminded of my grandmother’s views this morning,
reading and watching the reports of Ed Miliband’s speech yesterday at the
Labour Party Conference. What Ed said has now been overshadowed by what he didn’t
say, as it’s emerged that his attempts to impress again with the party piece of
speaking without notes backfired on him when he forgot whole sections of the
speech which addressed issues such as the economy and immigration.
It’s an astonishing error to make on such an occasion, which
surely raises the question of why he put himself under the pressure of learning
such a lot of lines for a major set-piece event. What do we learn about someone
when they speak without notes? Does it really prove they have more passion, or
just that they have a good memory? It could be argued that on some occasions, a
memorised speech allows for a conversational style, which seems to have been
the effect Miliband was aiming for yesterday. But the impression we’ve been
left with is a disastrous attempt to put presentational gimmicks ahead of
content and substance.
I still detect in some churches a preference for preaching
which is extemporaneous. Sometimes, it seems to me that this is a viewpoint
underpinned by anti-intellectualism, the suspicion that too many hours of research
and reflection may end up taking off an edge of passion and zeal. But surely
what matters most is effective preparation, weighing and sifting ideas, so that
we speak a word which is thoughtful and truly can rise to the occasion. And
whether or not what is delivered is done so with or without notes is surely of
secondary importance.
But am I missing a point? Are there moments when a script
diminishes a sermon? All views welcome…
Stumbled across this post and liked it. Good question. My sermons are usually scripted and heart and mind are fully engaged both in preparation and delivery. (Most of the heart felt worship songs used in our churches are written down too)
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