"Don't you miss preaching?"

As some of you may know, I used to preach a lot. And the truth is, I did enjoy it - preparation and preaching it. Do I miss it? Well, yes and no.

Think is, I was reasonably OK at it, but I have always argued (when asked) that preaching - the traditional sermon - is not a good thing. It is not good in terms of a teaching a congregation, or any group. Teaching is far better done by engagement, discussion, encouraging learners to explore what they are trying to learn. The talk - without the drive or occasion to properly engage with this - is a very poor approach.

Of course sermons are not just about teaching - they are also about exhortation, encouragement. And the sermon is not really that good for that either. As a starting point, I have heard very few sermons that are actually delivered in an exciting way, in a way that actually invogorates the listeners to do something. But also, in the context of a church service, this can easily get lost in the other parts of the service.

I have - in my time - done a range of other things in the "sermon" slot. And I think they start to address these concerns - using different approaches, asking questions, exploring the passages or the messages in different ways. And that is always interesting (where I am allowed to do it).

But I am still not convinced that the sermon is a valid "thing" any more. It was, at a time when people were less bombarded with information, ideas, images.

So, is "not having a sermon" an improvement over sermons that might not be ideal? As a preacher, I learnt a lot while preparing talks, and I can do a lot of that anyway. The production of a sermon is not entirely relevant to the work to understand a passage or an idea. And yes, in my sermoning time, I have learnt how to do this, and so do this when a difficult passage challenges me, or needs addressing.

What about others? Well, the Quaker way is out of silence. And I believe that the silence, the contemplation, the waiting and not talking, is also a way of learning, engaging. And there are other places to get insights, learning and exploration. More and more people get insights online. There is a training centre for all sorts of courses, but actually, it is up to the individuals to find places to learn, to engage.

And the idea that a talk, coming from (pretty academic) exploration of a passage or theme, is the only way that people can grow is a problem. OK, if you want to learn academic theology, there is a need for didactic approaches. But Christians are not called to be academic theologians. We are called to engage with the Divine, to learn from God, to grow in our spiritual life. We will do that in different ways.

So the truth is, I like the theological engagements I get in all sorts of places (twitter, Ship-of-Fools) - this is answering questions that people are asking. But I don't really miss either the hard work of preparation sermons, or the process of listening to other peoples (the short 2-3 minute insights in a Quaker meeting are more like my style).

Maybe we all need to move beyond the sermon.