Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Irreverin

Home
Progressive Christian
Mapping the Message: A Choose Your Own Adventure Tale for Preachers

Mapping the Message: A Choose Your Own Adventure Tale for Preachers

Last updated on: December 20, 2014 at 7:39 am by Erin Wathen

Mapping the Message: A Choose Your Own Adventure Tale for Preachers 2014-12-20T07:39:48-07:00 Erin Wathen

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

When I write about pastoral life, I try to make it interesting and/or useful to readers who aren’t clergy. There is almost always a spiritual or practical truth that applies to a broader audience.

That said—if you are not a vocational minister, the following might literally bore you TO DEATH, and I don’t want to be responsible for that. Read on if you wish. But I won’t be offended if you go cruise another blog and come back here tomorrow (or the next day).

Meantime– I’m going to share some thoughts on the creative process behind mapping a sermon series. (If you didn’t fall asleep just reading that sentence, you MIGHT be interested in the rest of this).

First, here goes my confession: I hate the lectionary. I use it occasionally, between series or seasons. But when I do, it feels like I’m accepting a triple-dog-dare from the Holy Spirit. Like, close your eyes and throw a dart at the liturgical calendar, sucker, and see if you can say something meaningful about the verse you land on. I know preachers who do this every Sunday, and do it beautifully.

But I prefer to extend a conversation in a 3 to 6 week framework. Maybe it’s because I’m a compulsive reader. I love a good, long story; and I love, even more, a good long series that lets me invest in characters, a sense of place, and the evolution of relationships over time. It seems that preaching just flows more naturally if it’s part of an ongoing conversation. And if you know you have 4 weeks to talk about, say, “Forgiveness,” then you don’t feel the urgency to tell every story you know about forgiveness in a single 16 minute message. Spreading it out gives everyone (preacher included) room to breathe, time to process, and the imaginative capacity to expand on a theme.

Note: I say “I,” but I always crowd source. In each of these steps, I process with the other pastors on staff, with the worship team, with clergy friends…sometimes strangers on the street, I’m not even lying. So before you read on, my best advice is: find your people, and talk it out. (Especially if some of those people are going to be preaching some of the messages in the series.)

That said…here’s the road map. It’s not a perfect plan, but it’s a helpful pattern for me, and I hope it might be for others. Please excuse the janky formatting. Think of it as a choose-your-own-adventure story for clergy.

Step 1: Pick a theme.

I start with three basic questions. And then, based on the responses, I choose ONE of those three to develop into series. Here are examples of each:

Question 1. What is on the minds and hearts of your church folks, and what is happening in their lives? Are there trends?

Pulpit response: Address a life situation that many of your church people are dealing with, and help frame that reality in a meaningful way. (if you go this route, keep it broad. You don’t want to do a series on like, ‘marriage’ unless every single person in your church is married; or a series on ‘how to deal with a broken index finger’ unless everyone is sporting the same splint…you know).

Example 1: It’s August. Kids are going back to school. Also, many of our church folks are dealing with divorce, or the death of a loved one. Or having babies or sending kids off to college. Or living through career or financial uncertainty. So we’re doing a series about faith in transition.

Question 2. What’s happening in the life of the congregation? What challenges and opportunities are present? What is the ‘next big thing’ as we grow together?

Pulpit response: create a narrative for this season in the life of the church, and use the message to shape congregational identity and mission.

Example 2: our street is just opening back up after a LONG messy construction project that made for a church access nightmare. People can find us again! People can see our signs from the road again! But… are we still ‘closed off’ in other ways? Enter September series, when we’ll talk about how mission has to be rooted in a sense of place and context…which is really hard to do in the suburbs. How can we be present in the ways Jesus asks us to be when we live scattered all over a big ol’ metro sprawl area? Where is our place? Who are our neighbors?

Question 3. What is happening in the world right now? What do we find ourselves always talking about when we get together?**

Pulpit response: help discern and articulate what it means to live faithfully in our time and place, in light of _______ (local or global issue of your choice: white privilege, climate change, growing inequity between rich and poor…etc)

Example 3: Many of us are thinking about justice issues around immigration. So this year, we’re going to approach Advent from the perspective of the refugee. Because really, most biblical characters (especially in the Christmas story) were running from something…

Once you’ve got a topic, you move on to:

Step 2: Name it. You want something that has a poetic ring to it, but is also descriptive and marketable.

Example 1: “Doors and Windows: Faces of Faith in Transition.”

Example 2: “Where in the World Are You?”

Example 3: “Songs of Refuge”

We’re going for topical, concise, and rhythmic. Subtitles or short blurbs (see step 5, marketing) help with the descriptive. At the very least, you want to leave people wanting to know more… And then you can

Step 3: Choose scriptures. At this point, you may be saying “but that’s eisegesis!” (Hey, don’t holler at me.) Picking a topic and THEN finding the scripture to support it might seem like slippery theological territory. But I call it: knowing what is going on in your church and world; and drawing out the part of the biblical narrative most meaningful and relevant to that context. If we want to help folks view the world through the lens of the gospel, sometimes we have to start with the world…where it is, what it’s moving through. And then we do the work of study, prayer, and discernment to help us stay faithful to the text, rather than using it to support our own ideas.

Even with a topic in mind, it can be hard to narrow down to a month’s worth of text passages. Here are some ideas for different approaches…

–Example 1: For the “Doors and Windows” series, we selected an assortment of biblical characters who are shaped our led through transition; or who learn something about God during a season of uncertainty. I always try and do a range of OT/Gospel and Epistle texts for a series, but this time, it broke down like this:

Week 1, Joshua Crosses the Jordan

Week 2, Elijah in the Wilderness

Week 3, Ruth and Naomi, Moving On

Week 4, The Disciples Leave Their Nets

For a variation on this theme… OT, Wisdom, Gospel, Epistle; mirror the lectionary in a 4 week series. Through the language of your chosen series topic.

Week 1—An Old Testament text (especially from Genesis or Exodus) can point to God’s faithfulness, God’s providence and purpose, and how the modern day person/community of faith has a small part in a much larger narrative of God’s movement throughout history.

Week 2—A wisdom or poetic text is a great place to talk about spiritual disciplines; and/or places where we witness the holy in every day life around us.

Week 3—Jesus! If Jesus is not the every week centerpiece, then he should be the climax of a series. I usually choose gospel texts for the middle and/or final weeks. The Jesus stories are the place to emphasize the life of discipleship; faithful response to local and global concerns; and the hopeful, life-giving properties of the gospel for our time and place.

Week 4—More Jesus. Maybe framed through an epistle this time. What is the good word for the church in our time and place? What is the challenge? How do we screw up the same things that those early disciples screwed up, and how does that pattern shed some light on our future with God and each other?

–**Example 2 –**The ‘Pick a Book’ approach

I’ve done this before, with varying results. I’m not entirely committed to doing it this time, but for the “Where in the World Are You?” series, I’m thinking of working through the book of Acts.

In this approach, you study the whole book, and draw out some basic truths from the work as a whole. Then use the passages that best articulate those finer points. For instance, Acts pretty much boils down to this:

-Church is not the destination; it’s the starting point

-WHERE you do ministry matters; church does not exist in a vacuum

-Church is not a place to go; it’s something to be

-It’s important for Disciples to gather together; but just as important that they disperse with the message.

-Everybody’s gifts matter. And showing up matters.

These are good narrative starting points to have in mind as you read through the text as a whole. When you do, the weekly passages will just sort of rise to the top and settle naturally.

– Example 3– The “Keep Hammering” approach.

This is the scariest prospect of all, but can also be the funnest… You preach the same text EVERY SUNDAY for a MONTH. Or rather, you start with the same text. And then you feature another one, from another part of the Bible,that illuminates the same theme.

I once used this approach for a series on spiritual gifts. Every Sunday for 6 weeks, I started with the I Corinthians passage about the ‘manifestations of the Spirit.’ Prophecy, wisdom, healing, miracles, tongues, etc. Each week, I focused on one of the individual gifts; highlighting a biblical character who demonstrated that gift. For prophecy, we had Anna and Simeon in the temple; wisdom was David; miracles = Moses, etc.

I’m going this same route for Advent this year. When the angel comes to Mary, she sings about the mighty being brought down, and the hungry being filled with good things…we call it The Magnificat. It is the ultimate hymn of justice, and the original Christmas carol. What if we sang a variation of that every Sunday during Advent, as we prepare for Jesus’ birth? And each week would also follow with a text about a person (or people) who are displaced, wandering, and seeking refuge. I’m thinking:

-Week 1: Isaiah or Jeremiah

-Week 2: Mary

-Week 3: Joseph

-Week 4: Jesus

-Epiphany—Wise Men

Which pretty much looks like every Advent, ever. But, framed through the ‘Songs of Refuge’ theme, it takes on some new life; and tells the stories of our past in the context of a modern-day humanitarian crisis. Maybe we feel called to move a little. Maybe we love our neighbors a little better. Maybe there’s less shopping… Here’s to hope.

When I get to this point, I’m always kind of exhausted, but there’s more. Cause now you have to

Step 4: Talk to the Musicians

So that they can be thinking about thematic songs; and

Talk to the worship elves (whomever they be in your church) so they can work their magic with the space and the liturgy and all that good jive. And THEN, you still have to:

Step 5: Market

And hope like hell that you’ve got somebody on staff who’s awesome at finding artsy images, developing graphics, and doing all the cool stuff with font, text placement, media, posters and mailings, so that people will actually show up to hear you preach.

Because after all this, what’s left is to

Step 6: Show up and bring some good news.

Because week to week, in any season, people are waiting to hear it.

They maybe even read all the way to the bottom of this really long, kind of tedious post, because they want to see what’s coming. And for that, I’m thankful.

It’s an art, not a science. There are real and actual ‘preaching processes and practices’ out there; more scholarly, more official, and maybe more effective. But I’m a reader. And for my money, a novel often has more good news than a text book. This is how the gospel comes to life for me. I hope it is also good news for somebody else.

progressive christianity

scripture

Previous Post

August 14, 2014

Love Anyway: An Ode to First Days

Next Post

August 27, 2014 Not in the Fire, Not in the Wind

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category a good week for progress Advent and Christmas Being a Person desert life faith and community Good News for Progressives Lent and Easter Marriage and Family S*^! Jesus Says sabbatical road tripping Spirituality in Culture Talking to Strangers the "Best Stuff I Ever Ate" diet travel Uncategorized writing Writing Prompt Wednesday

Select a Month January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 February 2011 July 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What did Eve eat in the Garden of Eden?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Fruit from the Tree of Knowledge An unclean animal A vine branch Bread