Did you watch the wedding of Prince Harry to Meghan Markle? I sat down 10 minutes before the Service with a coffee and a big bun because I wanted to see what they would do that was different, having been promised a different kind of wedding. I watched the event but the bit that stood out (and there was loads that did stand out) was the preaching by bishop, Michael Curry, the leader of the Episcopal Church, USA. He was brilliant, the breadth, the scope and the excitement was fantastic and anyone listening couldn’t help but engage with it. What I found amusing was the fact that the television director had the camera man pan around St George’s Chapel Windsor to show you the faces and reactions of the congregation. Why, did he do it? Quite simply because their faces told you the last thing they expected was for a preacher to engage with them. They were all waiting to be bored silly thinking they would shut out the sermon because it would be the most tedious bit of the proceedings. The faces told it all – they were “gob-smacked”, they couldn’t believe it. Instead of being bored to death, which much preaching induces, they sat up and listened and oh, how they listened. It was great stuff and vintage preaching at its best.
There is nothing old fashioned about preaching if done properly. We live in an age when we are told people cannot listen to someone speaking without visual aids for longer than ten minutes; we are told the screen giving the text is required if folk are to take on board what is being said in any meaningful way; we are told preaching is now redundant. Bishop Curry proved otherwise and all those faces, waiting to be bored, said it all. They were bemused, they were alert, they were surprised in many different ways but none of them bored. The art of communication is a great gift if used wisely and with integrity and Bishop Curry did. He gave millions around the world a taste of the dynamic energy of the gospel and we should thank God he did.
Tom
There is nothing old fashioned about preaching if done properly. We live in an age when we are told people cannot listen to someone speaking without visual aids for longer than ten minutes; we are told the screen giving the text is required if folk are to take on board what is being said in any meaningful way; we are told preaching is now redundant. Bishop Curry proved otherwise and all those faces, waiting to be bored, said it all. They were bemused, they were alert, they were surprised in many different ways but none of them bored. The art of communication is a great gift if used wisely and with integrity and Bishop Curry did. He gave millions around the world a taste of the dynamic energy of the gospel and we should thank God he did.
Tom