You know that feeling when something you’ve been planning for, working on, and waiting for finally arrives? Maybe it’s a surprise party for a friend. Maybe it’s a project at work? Maybe it’s a vacation you’ve been arranging for your family or the wedding you’ve been helping to plan with one your kids? Whatever it is, that feeling of anticipation edging finally over into consummation is incredibly sweet. I had that feeling last night when the all new Working Preacher website was debuted. What, you may be thinking, all this excitement about a website? Well, as a matter of fact – yes! About seven years or so ago I had this...

When is the last time you heard a sermon on depression? Or for that matter heard anything about depression or other mental illnesses even mentioned in a sermon? I ask because I read this morning of the death of Rick and Kay Warren’s son Matthew of an apparent suicide. Matthew, 27 years old, had long suffered from bi-polar disorder and, as part of that, suffered from intense periods of depression that included suicidal impulses. The Warrens’ response to this heart-breaking tragedy has been forthright and faithful at a time when most of us would want only to huddle together in grief. My heart breaks for them even as I admire their grace...

Somewhere along the way of my early career in ministry, it dawned on me that the central task of preaching is simply to tell the truth. Actually, to tell the truth twice. The first truth is the truth of our lives. Our hopes and disappointments, our accomplishments and set backs, our dreams and fears. What matters is that it is true – deeply, candidly, courageously true. The second truth is God’s truth – the truth of God’s unrelenting mercy, grace, goodness and love. The truth of God’s acceptance of us just as we are. The truth of God’s profound and sacrificial love made manifest in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus...

Over the last two years I’ve been directing a research project at Luther Seminary that seeks to understand a little better what makes congregations thrive. Toward this end, we’ve partnered with about 40 congregations across the country and worked with them to discover what seems to work the best as they invite people more deeply into the faith. We’re at a point in the research where teams of two faculty members from Luther are traveling to visit each of the congregations. Our job, really, is just to listen to what these congregations are discovering and learn a) what we can share with other congregations and b) what we can do better at...

ChurchNext is the website and ministry of Chris Yaw, who spent the first part of his professional life as an interviewer and broadcaster in radio and television. Now an Episcopal priest, Chris uses those same skills to interview leaders, change agents, and skilled practitioners and harvest what they know to make it available to all leaders in the church, lay and ordained. A few weeks ago Chris interviewed me – I’m not sure which of those above categories I fit into – and he’s just posted the fruits of the conversation we had via Skype on his site. My topic: moving from performative preaching toward more participatory preaching...

A few weeks ago I was invited by a pastor to join him in a dialogue sermon. I’d never done that before, but I’m always talking about the need to experiment in our preaching and so figured it was time to put my money where my mouth was. We met ahead of time and talked through the contours of the biblical text appointed for that day and how it might lend itself to this kind of dialogue. While we worked through the major moves and anticipated turning points of the conversation, we left the content of the conversation largely unscripted. We also talked about the need to make sure we didn’t just talk about the text but proclaimed the Gospel...

As part of a grant project studying vibrant preaching, I had the chance recently to read over a) the results of a survey taken by more than a thousand people who regularly listen to sermons and b) the in-depth interviews given by about two hundred more. The results have been fascinating and I’m only just beginning to process them. But one thing already stands out: People want to understand why the biblical stories they hear read at church matter. Desperately. More than that, they want what happens on Sunday to matter throughout the week. When I processed this observation with a group of preachers participating in the study, one voiced the...