Pastor Life: Behind the Curtain - Pt. 1

“Well, you work only one day a week, right?” – followed by raucous laughter.

Your pastor(s) may smile weakly at this age-old joke, and may even respond with a witticism of their own. But in their hearts, it hurts to have this even joked about. Because pastors work very hard, every day of the week. So, I’m pulling back the curtains on a pastor’s life, and we’re going to start with the most visible part: preaching.

Preaching is what most people most closely associate with being a pastor. It’s probably the most visible part of a pastor’s life, it happens every week – sometimes more often, like when there are special holidays such as Ash Wednesday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, or Christmas Eve – and it’s very, very public. Nearly everyone is convinced they could do it – and many are certain they’d do it better than the preacher they currently have! Everyone has an opinion on the sermon, the delivery, and even what the preacher wears (trust me on this one).

To deliver a good sermon takes several hours of research on the biblical passage being preached upon. Then a good pastor will pray about what the passage and God are saying, and what the congregation needs to hear in this time and space. After that, the pastor will draft, re-draft, and refine a sermon as many times as it takes. A good pastor – even those who preach with only notes or without notes at all – almost always starts by writing out their sermons.

That brings me to manuscript preaching vs. preaching with notes vs. preaching without notes. There are pros and cons to each approach, but preaching experts agree that pastors should use the method that brings them the greatest peace and clarity. I don’t know what the pastors at High Street did before me, but I know both Pastor Colin and I are manuscript preachers, as were Pastors Mackenzie and Daryl. I don’t know their reasons, but I can explain mine.

First, some argue that a preacher should prepare, but take no notes into the pulpit, relying instead on the Holy Spirit to guide the message. I’ve seen and heard A LOT of sermons (good and bad); and unfortunately, my experience is that most preachers who use no notes tend to ramble and wander somewhat aimlessly in their sermons. Those who use only notes or outlines often have sermons with a lot of verbal fillers, such as “Uh … uh …  mmmm,” – because they haven’t thought through their transitions. I’ll be honest: I deeply dislike a sermon that wanders, rambles, meanders, or is otherwise disorganized.

On the other hand, preaching with only an outline, notes, or with nothing other than a Bible in hand tends to lead to greater eye contact, and a feeling of greater direct engagement with the congregation. The sermon is almost always simpler – it has to be. But for it to be good, it still requires enormous preparation.

You all know I was a lawyer and an English major. Words and ideas are important to me. I am precise in the words I choose, the concepts I want to convey, and the ways I want to get them across. That’s why I’m a manuscript preacher. I’m extremely careful about how my sermon is crafted. I want all of you to experience my best. Others choose a different approach. None are wrong.

Sometimes people think a manuscript preacher is reading the sermon to them. This is absolutely not true. We’ve practiced the sermon multiple times – out loud – before we proclaim it in the sanctuary. We know it, internalize it, and embody it before we preach it. And we seldom preach exactly what we’ve written – even if we’ve practiced it multiple times.

Every pastor has a different approach for preparing and preaching a sermon, but it takes me several hours of research and prayer, more for writing and re-writing, time to refine, and time to practice before I’m close to finished. I allow time between each stage so I can think about it between each stage. And most of this time is not during office or work hours of the church.

It’s been estimated that preaching a sermon consumes the same energy as running a mile race. It’s way more exhausting than most people would believe – especially since they think we’re just “standing up there, talking.” Keep your pastors in your prayers, friends. They’re working hard – for God and for you.