So it’s down to the struggle with the Christmas sermon. At first glance it looks fairly easy but I think its fairly difficult. Christmas sort of defines its own agenda and there is so much stuff going on that it’s hard to add anything significant from the pulpit. And there are always lots of people who come to church at Christmas and not at other times .. which creates its own pressures. I’ll see how I get on tomorrow – I’ve only had a year to work on it.
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Well, yes, it’s a saying. But one that is important in an audio-visual society. Deliver any talk in a dull or uncommunicative manner and its a lead balloon.
Thanks for the Emmanuel gobbit on the midnight sermon – very useful. I liked two comments during my rounds – one from the owner of a large local old people’s home – ‘thank you, no minister has ever come and taken a service on Christmas Day here’, and a father – ‘that’s the first time my son has ever laughed in church’! telling and onerous – we are a sacrament to others whether we like it or not.
Yes – but not of course till Boxing Day. As for the sermons, not all in the delivery, I hope. Tho’ I am always conscious of the ‘David Cameron’ effect whereby delivery without script leads people to impute both sincerity and spontaneity. Dangerous.
A Happy Christmas to you at the Palace. I hope the footmen, butlers and parlour maids are given a wee half day to celebrate too. the chef of course needs to wait until later…. as to the sermons, well, it’s window of opportunity stuff, and that gets smaller by the year it seems, but one has to take it. Hope the delivery goes well too – it’s all in the delivery 🙂