Response to CM102
This course did end very abruptly and I’m looking forward to continue my studies with CM103 Invitation to Biblical Preaching 2, which I presume will continue where this course ended. What I like most about this course is to see Kent Edwards so
engaged and passionate about preaching. I’m being affected by his passion and I really believe he is doing a good job in motivating me to preach. I find myself being more encouraged both in my gift, but also in spending more time on developing my skills. I found units 1-3 more compelling than units 4-5.
I think it’s really sobering to begin to talk about all the challenges biblical preaching is facing today. We live in times when we will only face more and more challenges. The Corona-pandemic has created both new challenges and new opportunities for biblical preaching. First of all, the pandemic has limited the opportunities for people to meet face-to-face all over the world. I’m living in Sweden, Europe, and we are currently not permitted to meet more than 8 people at a time. Christian meetings and services are therefore more or less cancelled throughout the country. This has caused many churches to upload services or sermons on Youtube, and here comes the challenges. If it’s only about listening to a sermon or a service once a week, then which one should I listen to? Small churches will never be able to produce digital services with as high quality as bigger churches may. If all of Internet is available for me, then why should I listen to my local preacher when I can listen to a world-famous preacher? For the first time in history there is actually a competition between the local preacher and the world-famous preacher, which might render the local preacher outcompeted, at least for a time.
Another challenge the Corona-pandemic might bring is to regain people’s attention. With services either being cancelled or going online, the length of the sermon has drastically decreased. People want something short to listen. I’d say the average length of sermons in Sweden has decreased 5-10 minutes in just 1 year. This means the preacher must say whatever God has put on his heart, but in a shorter amount of time. This will of course reduce the teaching aspect of sermons. You simply don’t have time to build a foundation in your sermon before you make your points. Now you have to skip the foundation and go to your points instantly. Why? Because you don’t have the time or the attention of the hearer to speak for a
long time. Hopefully this will change when we’re once again allowed to meet, but I’m not so sure people’s attitude towards sermons and services instantly will go back to how things were before the Corona-pandemic. The risk is that these changes in people’s attitude is here to stay for a long time (choosing your favorite preacher over a local preacher and the decreased sermon-attention span). These challenges are something preacher will have to face in my country.
On the other hand, the Corona-pandemic has created a lot of opportunities. Small congregations that are aware of the challenges I described above has taken a more pragmatic approach. Instead of producing a full service online, they simple produce a sermon from a local preacher with an intro and an outro. The preachers have been given more freedom in how they shape their sermons and they don’t have to fit a certain traditional form. The preachers can film their sermon anytime and anywhere they want to, which produces a flexibility for the preachers. Another positive thing is that many churches that didn’t record their sermons before the pandemic, now reach even more people within their contacts. People who couldn’t make it to church on Sundays are now able to listen to the same sermon as everybody else.
Kent Edwards didn’t of course talk about this, but I’m very curious in how he and
other preacher will teach and talk about sermons in post-pandemic times. Some changes are temporary, but some changes are here to stay. I don’t think the local
preacher will be outcompeted by Internet, our need for face-to-face meeting will always be true, but I think that filming and making sermons available online is here to stay. I think the future for preachers will include both a local live setting, but also a recorded or filmed setting. My attitude is that it’s always a good thing to make good teaching and preaching available, even if it’s online. And that’s a challenge and an opportunity I think we will have to explore in the future.
Kind regards,
Henrik
- Good thoughts on how the pandemic and lockdowns have had an effect on preaching.