Welcoming Lay Preachers to the Pulpit

A Message from Rev. Paulo

Preaching has a central place in Christian worship. We value this practice of crafting, delivering, listening to, reflecting on and wrestling with sermons because Jesus placed the art of preaching at the heart of his ministry. In his first sermon at the synagogue where he grew up, Jesus described the essence of his mission in this manner – “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach good tidings to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to preach the year of the Lord’s favor.”

We also hold preaching as the most sacred 15 to 20 minutes in the worship service because for two millennia the Christian community has understood that preaching is critically important for the spiritual vitality of congregations. Martin Luther, the great Reformer of the sixteenth century, believed that people of faith encounter the Living Christ in and through the preached word. Luther averred, “To preach the gospel is nothing else than Christ’s coming to us or bringing us to him.”

This was certainly the experience of the first disciples. After being blown away from their hiding place in Jerusalem by the Holy Spirit on Pentecost, Peter delivered an impassioned message.

The Book of Acts claims that the people who heard Peter’s proclamation “were cut to the heart” and those who welcomed Peter’s message “devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.” Good and faithful preaching grounds us in the faith of the Church and strengthens our connection with our siblings in Christ.

A woman at a previous church at which I served, once surprised me after the worship service with these words, “I come to church to have my brain rattled and my heart set on fire by your sermons.” Jesus preached and the Church Universal still preaches because preaching can and often does make a difference in the lives of the people in the pews and online.

Mainline denominations like ours have expressed our deepest appreciation, reverence and respect for the preached word by ordaining seminary-educated ministers to the ministry of the Word. If asked, many people would still probably say that preaching is the pastor’s main job. As a matter of fact, I am sure there are quite a few people out there who still believe ministers only work on Sunday morning when we deliver the sermon. This misguided assumption leads many to think that professional clergy are the only Christians who are equipped to preach and announce the Good News about Christ from the pulpit. I, on the other hand, pray daily to “the Lord of the harvest… to send out more workers into the harvest field.” I am firmly convinced that as churches begin to imagine creative and innovative ways to do ministry in this post-COVID world, we will have to empower lay leaders to carry on the mission of Jesus Christ through their engagement in the local church. We will need to prepare people to be messengers of the Good News, announcers of God’s Kingdom, and proclaimers of hope, grace, love and faith. In sum, we will need to raise up more lay leaders and lay preachers.

Thankfully, our church already has a strong and dynamic ministry of lay preaching. While in some congregations lay preachers are listened to with a bit of suspicion, at ACC we celebrate and give thanks for the lives of Franki Bennett, Bridget Chamberas, Julia Hanna, Jennifer Nelson, and Jeff McHarg. Whenever they preach, their well-prepared sermons challenge us, comfort us, inspire us, enlighten us, and expand our understanding of familiar Scripture lessons.

From my perspective, there are at least 4 ways our lay preachers play a vital role in our church:

1. Lay preachers know the people in the pews – Lay preachers come from the pews. Some of our lay preachers have been part of ACC for several decades, others joined only a few years ago, but they have served on committees, volunteered with the youth, taught Sunday school, led Bible studies, planned demonstrations against racial injustice, and have listened to hundreds of sermons. Because of their history with ACC, their commitment to our church and love for our vision, our lay preachers are in a unique position to understand the longings and needs of our congregation. Their sermons speak to our whole church because they know what is on people’s minds and hearts.

2. Lay preachers bring their varied life experiences to the pulpit – Lay preachers do not spend the whole week in the church. They are less insulated from what is happening in the real world than most professional clergy. They understand the yearnings and anxieties shared by people on the other side of our stained-glass windows. They navigate different social, political, religious and non-religious circles outside the church where they hear what is energizing and troubling people who never attend church services. They come from different walks of life. Their sermon illustrations and interpretation of our Sacred Texts show the richness and depth of their work experience, family life, social connections, theological leanings, and journey of faith. Our lay preachers can make the message of the Gospel come alive because they speak about how the Gospel is alive in their own lives beyond Sunday morning.

3. Lay preachers are more connected to the church – Lay preachers remind the congregation that as we get involved in the church, our faith deepens and so does our desire to be more active in the ministries and mission of the Beloved Community. Planning, writing and delivering a sermon give lay preachers an appreciation for the weekly discipline of studying and meditating on God’s word, a practice that ordained ministers must maintain throughout our ministry. As they develop their preaching skills, lay preachers feel more spiritually alive. They embrace the responsibility to share God’s word with people who are longing to be spiritually nurtured. Their presence in the pulpit reminds the church that it is not only the professional clergy that can witness to God’s love revealed in Christ; all Jesus followers can do it and should do it. After all, in our tradition, we believe in the priesthood of all believers.

4. Lay preachers support the ministry of the ordained minister – During July and August, our lay preachers allow me to dedicate the time I would put into crafting a sermon to plan for the fall and winter, Rally Sunday and Stewardship, All Saints’ Sunday as well as for the big seasons of Advent and Christmas. This break from studying for and writing the Sunday sermon also gives me the opportunity to spend a few more hours with church members 101, read, go on vacation and focus on my physical and mental health. I am a better pastor for having lay preachers in the congregation who can share with me the joy and challenge of bringing a meaningful message to all of you every week. Especially now that I am the only ordained minister on staff, I feel deeply grateful for our lay preachers and their willingness to stand behind the pulpit to invite us to meet the Living Christ and let Christ come into our lives.

Thanks be to God for our lay preachers!

-Rev. Paulo Gustavo França