It’s late Saturday afternoon, and still the weekly gospel isn’t stirring the soul of the good reverend, anxious to find the words for Sunday’s sermon. Never mind, Boot up, click on, and sign in, to desperatepreacher.com. Nothing there? Try sermonsearch.com, sermon notes online. It’s not the problem, preachers say, but a symptom of a problem plaguing the pulpit.
Speeches intended to inspire congregants into another week of love, hard work and reverence are increasingly forgettable. It is the quest for the significant sermon in a world gone cold with political correctness; in a world where interactivity and high tech flash threaten to outshine the oratory of the preacher. A reading from the book of bland.
Guests:
Rev. Dr. James A. Forbes, Jr., Senior Minister of the Riverside Church in New York City
Dr. Richard A. Lischer, Cleland professor of preaching at Duke Divinity School
Rev. Barbara Brown Taylor, Episcopal priest in the Diocese of Atlanta and author of Speaking of Sin: The Lost Language of Salvation (Cowley 2000).