Andy Rowell

Church Leadership Conversations

  • Should pastors borrow sermons from other people?

    Word_for_word_1 Today, Skye Jethani posted an article on Leadership Journal’s Out of Ur blog entitled: Word for Word: what is driving pastors to plagiarize?

    Skye gives us an excellent little summary of the pertinent factors that are adding to the temptation to plagiarize sermons. 

    I would also add that "great preachers" have four things smaller church pastors do not: (1) a research team, (2) 25 hours a week to spend on sermon prep, (3) other teaching pastors to preach Wednesday night and next week and (4) an outstanding staff who visit people in the hospital and coordinate worship details.

    What else is leading pastors to plagiarize?

    People explicitly encouraging them to do so. Read this article at Rick Warren’s Ministry Toolbox on pastors.com

    Don’t be original – be effective!
    by Steve Sjogren

    Sjogren, pastor of the 6000 attendance Cincinnati Vineyard church, essentially argues that "everyone’s doing it and it is practical!" Here is a quote: Dont_be_original

    First of all, stop all of this nonsense of spending 25 or 30 hours a week preparing to speak on the weekend. The guys I draw encouragement from – the best communicators in the United States – confess they spend a total of about 15 hours preparing for their message. As I have already said, they get 70 percent of their material from someone else . . . Regardless of what you have heard or been taught – hit a homerun this weekend with the help of a message master!

    Of course it is appropriate to borrow sermon ideas, quotes, and even outlines from others. It is part of research. We may also draw a quote, idea or outline from a commentary. But I think we must ask ourselves these questions when we borrow.
    1. Do I feel complete integrity in this content? Am I repeating traditional American Christian cliches or is this material solidly rooted in Scripture? Am I seeking to live this material?
    2. Is there an appropriate way for me to document where I have received my material? Do I put a note in the bulletin that gives credit to the original preacher? For example: "The message material today is based on the sermon series by Rob Bell of Mars Hill Bible Church in Michigan entitled ‘Where else is the cross true?’" Or do you say somewhere in your introduction "Today I’m drawing material from a sermon preached earlier this year by John Ortberg of Menlo Park Presbyterian Church in California entitled "’The Church on Monday Morning?’"
    3. As the person set aside for study in this congregation and looked to as an example of integrity, am I putting aside an appropriate amount of time for preparation for building up my community in God’s word? How can I regularly inform the elders of my church about my study habits so that they can protect, encourage me and hold me accountable? "Elders, I just wanted to give you an update on this next sermon series. I’m planning on drawing 70% of what I say directly from Ed Young’s recent sermon series. I will probably be spending only 7 hours a week on sermon prep during that series instead of my usual 15. Let’s talk about it after the series again and see if you have any concerns about whether I did not spend enough time in preparation or if I should more explicitly indicate the sources of my sermon material."

    Later note August 14, 2006:

    See also the common sense article from Leadership Journal in 2003 entitled:

    An Honest Sermon by Mike Woodruff and Steve Moore (which is available for free at the moment).

  • Guidelines for Using Movie Clips in a Sermon

    “A picture is worth a thousand words.”Superman_returns

    Film and television clips can be a rich resource to draw from when teaching. They can be used at the beginning, end, or middle of a presentation to capture attention, stimulate interest, create a desire to know more, illustrate principles, summarize, or provide a powerful, memorable wrap-up to a message. Here are some preparation and presentation guidelines to help you make efficient use of this effective resource.

    GUIDELINES FOR SELECTION

    1. Select examples that capture the mood as well as the message of your point
    2. Select examples that don’t require a ton of explanation to set up
    3. Select examples that won’t require an apology afterwards (You can find more info at http://www.pluggedinonline.com/ or http://www.movieguide.org/ about movie moral content though I am partial to the reviews of movies at http://www.christianitytoday.com/movies/ since I know three of the reviewers personally).
    4. Select only that segment that serves your specific purposes—edit, edit, edit!
    5. Don’t be afraid to select examples that may be unfamiliar

    GUIDELINES FOR PRESENTATIONPirates_of_caribbean

    A good clip doesn’t stand on its own; it requires a good set up and wrap up

      SET UP—Think Past, Present, and Future

    1. Past: Describe the background, setting, time, place, etc
    2. Present: Identify the characters and action of the scene
    3. Future: Describe any future aspects of the story that would clarify your clip
    4. Focus attention by telling them what to watch for, e.g. Pay attention to…,” Be sure to watch for…,”  “Take note of….”
    5. Don’t forget to warn the audience of anything they might find offensive or disturbing

      WRAP UP

    1. Let the clip speak for itself OR summarize the point you’re making quickly
    2. Answer any lingering questions the clip may have raised
    3. Don’t get caught up in a personal running commentary on the film as a whole

    LICENSE ISSUESXmen

    Your church will also need to have a video license to show clips of movies.  Yes, even clips of movies as I understand it though this guy disagrees.  Here are a couple of providers in the USA: MPLC and CVLI  The Willow Creek Association report about the issue is here.  In Canada we used ACF

    This handout was originally created by Faye Chechowich, a professor of Christian Educational Ministries at Taylor University, and added to by Ted Ewing, pastor of First Church of God of East Central Indiana.  It was further revised by me for my course Teaching and Learning Strategies (Fall 2005) at Taylor University. 

    See the next post which will talk about how to find movie clips. 

    APPENDIX: MOVIES I HAVE SEEN IN THE THEATER THIS SUMMER

    I have watched three movies in the theater this summer and would probably recommend all of them.  See the reviews of them at Christianity Today: Superman Returns (2 1/2 stars), Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest (3 1/2 stars), and X-Men: The Last Stand (3 stars). 

    You should know that Pirates of the Caribbean is part of a series so the plot does not resolve whatsoever.  The next movie comes out in May 2007.  It is fun.  It is also a bit difficult to follow if you don’t remember the previous film.  I read Wikipedia’s plot summary of the previous film at Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl which helped a lot. 

    Superman Returns is also well done I think.  Some of my family thought it was predictable.  I liked it.  There are a few thoughtful moments.  (As far as superhero movies go, see the 4 star reviews from Christianity Today of Batman Begins and Spider-Man 2 now both on DVD.  They are great.)

    X-Men 3 was the most intellectually stimulating for me because I could think of some parallels to some issues in our modern world.  Again, it might be helpful to read the plot summary of the previous films at Wikipedia at X2 and X-Men to appreciate all of it. 

  • Do Church Leaders Promote an Unbiblical Patriotism?

    The article below in the second most popular article on the NY Times right now.  It is free for reviewing for the next week or two.

    Disowning Conservative Politics, Evangelical Pastor Rattles Flock

    By LAURIE GOODSTEIN
    Published: July 30, 2006
    Video: Politics and the Pulpit

    Bill Alkofer for The New York Times
    The article is about Gregory Boyd and his denuniciation of evangelicals for being enmeshed with the political right.  He is teaching pastor at a 4,000 person megachurch near St. Paul, Minnesota.  He is famous for his involvement in the Open Theism controversies and for his book Letters From a Skeptic. 
    The first few lines of the article (which I have pasted below) should serve as a good springboard for discussion.  Like Boyd, I have had people ask me to do all sorts of "political things" from the pulpit.  What should we do and what shouldn’t we do?

    MAPLEWOOD, Minn. — Like most pastors who lead thriving evangelical megachurches, the Rev. Gregory A. Boyd was asked frequently to give his blessing — and the church’s — to conservative political candidates and causes.

    The requests came from church members and visitors alike: Would he please announce a rally against gay marriage during services? Would he introduce a politician from the pulpit? Could members set up a table in the lobby promoting their anti-abortion work? Would the church distribute “voters’ guides” that all but endorsed Republican candidates? And with the country at war, please couldn’t the church hang an American flag in the sanctuary?

    After refusing each time, Mr. Boyd finally became fed up, he said . . .

    See the great discussion at Scot McKnight’s Jesus Creed.  See the summary on of this discussion at Vanguard Church’s post Randall Balmer Review at Scot McKnight’s "Jesus Creed"