Maureen Simpson of the Island packet did a great job on a recent feature article in our local paper on how some of us pastors in the Low Country deal with Technology. Blog On!
Pastors turn to technology for help writing sermonsBy MAUREEN SIMPSON
The Island Packet
Published Saturday, January 27, 2007
Sometimes, even the Holy Spirit isn't enough to move a congregation with a short attention span.
So some local clergy are finding that even a profession based on ageless truths needs the occasional upgrade -- from where they draw inspiration, how they prepare their messages and how they deliver them.
The Rev. Jerry Kramer of Lowcountry Presbyterian Church has been a minister for almost 40 years. He remembers the days when everything he produced began at "the old typewriter." Now, though he prefers to write his sermon outlines out on a yellow legal pad, he no longer has to pore over stacks of aged index cards and clunky reference books to find helpful commentaries or appropriate illustrations. Instead, virtually everything he needs is just a click away -- giving him more time to focus on how to be creative enough for his congregation.
"Sometimes, I think I could get rid of 90 percent of the books on my shelves and not miss them," said Kramer, who has gone increasingly to E-books and Bible software that enables him to have almost an entire library on his laptop.
"I'm finding that preaching over the years has become much more narrative or storytelling," he said. "A sermon 30 years ago only needed one illustration, and the rest was Biblical and more doctrinal. Now, you have to craft them in a way where people will really listen and respond. It has to have humor in it."
Usually -- in addition to Biblical text itself -- he turns to a lot of secular fiction ("The Alchemist" was his most recent read) or faith-based Web sites for inspiration. Marrying these sources, he said, tends to produce topics that are both socially and spiritually relevant.
When presenting his material to members of his church, however, he prefers to stick with his "no-note" style of preaching. And PowerPoint, he said, is rarely incorporated -- if ever. Though he has pastored at churches that prefer that sort of visual stimulation, his current congregation wishes otherwise. As much a fan of tradition as he is of technology, Kramer complies, noting that sometimes electronics can work against you.
"It's important to still be able to create word pictures in people's minds. I've found that visuals could be more distracting," he said. "If a gifted preacher can create word pictures in people's minds, the visual is more internal than external and thus more effective."
As someone who says he was "nursed on 'Gilligan's Island'<2009>" and is enthralled by graphic design, the Rev. Jay Slocum of The Church of the Cross Buckwalter Parkway Campus respectfully disagrees. In his opinion, the image-based culture in which we live demands we pay attention to it.
"I can never imagine not having images be part of what we're doing, but you also have to be creative with it. Don't just have a PowerPoint up for the sake of having a PowerPoint," Slocum said. He works in conjunction with the church's worship leader to fashion creative graphics and illustrations to accompany his sermons. He has begun crafting YouTube-like videos that he calls "digital teaching and preaching." The 6-miclips are filmed at various locations in Bluffton and on Hilton Head Island and shown before his sermons to help illustrate the points he then expounds on in the pulpit.
"Since people are reading less and less and watching more and more, you have to have a tool to reach them," he said. "It definitely depends on your demographic, though."
Slocum said that just a few years ago it would have been difficult to produce quality videos and presentations that were engaging enough for an audience, but now both the tools and the expectations are in alignment.
"People are able to handle it better, and it's produceable," he said. "It's more plausible to people too, because they're used to seeing it."
Despite Slocum's and others' strong leanings toward technology and image-based preaching, not all clergy feel the pressure or need to keep up with "The Sims."
Like Kramer and Slocum, Rabbi Mark Covitz of Congregation Beth Yam on Hilton Head said he will read or listen to other clergy's commentaries on the Internet for ideas, but ultimately prefers conversations when it comes to preparing and delivering his messages. Even the wealth of resources on the Web can't compare to the inspiration that surrounds him every day, he said.
"We do our best work when talking to people, not a computer," he said, noting he schedules a weekly phone conversation with a rabbi in New Jersey to share thoughts and ideas. "When personal contact is replaced by computer communication, I think the community loses its soul. I don't use a lot of technology in presentations. I think a sermon should be done in an old-fashioned way, from a preacher's mouth to a listener's ears."
No matter their differing perspectives on how technology should or should not be incorporated into their profession, all three clergy agree it's a job that should not be taken lightly. A fine line exists between researching sources and ripping them off, and they say it's one that is crossed too often by some of their spiritual counterparts who purchase and use complete sermon transcripts off the Web.
"I was just reading something a day or two ago where someone said, 'Pastors are so busy that ultimately, you have to do what works,'<2009>" Kramer relayed in hushed dismay. "What was once considered plagiarism is now more commonplace. I've listened to some younger preachers and wondered whose sermon I'm hearing. Sometimes (those Web sites) can be helpful in terms of structure, but I'm of the old-school thinking that a sermon should be your own. It's a matter of integrity."
Slocum, who maintains four different blogs on various personal and spiritual topics throughout the week and posts all his sermons online, said he is open to having other people use his material since advancing the kingdom of God is a common goal of the clergy. But, they need to give people credit where credit is due and be able to reinterpret messages for the community in which they live.
"Everything I create is out there. You can have it if you want it," Slocum said. "What's disturbing to me is pastors that really aren't cng anything new, just baptizing old ideas over and over again. I call it using 'stock' rather than using something that emerges out of you and your relationship with God."
Just as their faith teaches them that the Bible is not meant to be an easy book with simple directives, these clergy understand their job isn't to deliver easy answers and catchy slogans, but to struggle alongside their congregations in examining the text and their concepts of God -- using whatever resources they can to help reach and connect with them.
"A lot of people say preaching has had its day, but I think preaching has never been as dynamic because of all the tools we have to use," Slocum said.
Added Kramer: "Change is part of what keeps ministry fresh and dynamic for me."
Contact Maureen Simpson at 706-8141 or
msimpson@islandpacket.com.
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