Reviewing Your Preaching Plan

It has been a little hectic this week so I’m a little late with this weekly essay. Just a reminder. In an attempt to reach diverse audiences I alternate the focus of each weekly post. I try and mix in some basic exegetical observations that should benefit any interested Christian. I also sprinkle in topical and incidental observations about the intersection of Christian faith and contemporary culture. Because I have a desire to help preachers I also include at least one post every month that is geared for those who “professionally” engage in the preparation and delivery of sermons. This is one of those posts. If you are a preacher, particularly just starting out you will perhaps remember some of my ranting about a sermon calendar. Without such a long-term preaching plan you are like a log floating down a river. You are going to go where the current takes you. A preaching plan transforms you into a kayaker who directs the vessel in reaction to that same current intentionally going where you wish to go. 

It is the first week in August. If you have followed my recommendation of beginning with the traditional “Church Year” you are now 37 weeks into the preaching year. We are in the home stretch. Soon we will be thinking about next year’s plan. One of the main reasons I write my sermon calendar in October is simple logistics. November and December are a lot busier than October. This is another reason that preaching from the first Sunday in Advent till the last Sunday in “regular” time is best. If you begin with the calendar year you will be trying to put together your sermon calendar in one or both of the two busiest months for ministry.  No now is a good time to look back on 2021 and consider how things have gone. There are three elements which I think contribute to a good review of a preaching plan.

Series ending review/debrief 

OK, it doesn’t really begin this week. It starts with the best practice of doing a quick review/debrief as the last task for each sermon series.  I always try to look over a series the Monday or Tuesday after I complete it. This gives me a chance to quickly focus on my most recent work before moving on to the next series. That means that when it is time to think about how my overall plan is going I already have some guidance. This series-ending debrief is the opportunity to recall any glitches which may have occurred in preparation or presentation. It gives you a chance to reconsider any questions that listeners may have brought to your attention and to categorize the kinds of feedback you’ve been given during the series. 

This is also the time to file your working materials, tie up any loose bibliographical ends, and make sure that you have fair copies (electronic or paper, whichever you prefer) of all the final sermons. Even if you don’t want to re-preach them in the future you will want them for future reference the next time you preach on that particular passage of scripture.

Execution

In general, I want to consider my series preplanning.  Was it accurate? When I went through preliminary exegetical steps did I properly anticipate the intent of the passage and measure that against my goal for the series as a whole and each individual sermon? Sometimes in putting together a sermon series the general concept holds together better than the individual sermons.  

Deviation

Did circumstances require me to radically change my plan?  Generally, this is a yes/no question. This time around my review reminds me that I committed a blunder in the last several weeks.  For some reason, I simply got ahead of myself and skipped a sermon. I had to go back at the time and determine whether I had to further alter my course or whether I could combine texts and accomplish what I set out to say throughout the whole series of sermons.  Ultimately I did not miss anything in the overall scope of the series that I wanted to highlight. One does feel rather foolish (particularly when the congregation follows and anticipates the texts from week to week, as mine does) to have to admit such a careless and clumsy oversight. 

Beyond mistakes, the deviations which are most common are those times where we have to change the plan because of unfolding circumstances. In 2020 this was something I did on a quarterly basis.  Things were so (to use a theological term) squirrelly last year that it was necessary to regularly recalibrate my preaching throughout the year. 

OK, so the old, bald guy has had his rant. What does it really mean? Why even discuss this topic? It is important. Preaching changes the world. Preaching makes disciples. Preaching Christ is what we are called to do. I certainly hope that Doctors and Lawyers take their jobs seriously enough to critique their work. I don’t even want to go to an auto mechanic who doesn’t want to improve. Improvement comes from preliminary self-discipline and relentless self-criticism. 

If I were to ask you how your preaching is going, could you really give me an objective answer? Let’s encourage one another and do this hard, joyful labor together.