Worship is sacred to me. It needs to be expansive enough to have several places for people to find connection as well as specific enough for people to feel like you they have a community.
I believe the worship experience is like an emotional bathtub. The beginning of the service sets the tone and stage to stepping your foot in. The readings and music help you settle into the bathtub. The sermon finds a way to help you immerse into a new understanding or new way of being. Then the ending bring you back out of the bathtub with a sense of purpose or hope. The idea is to never leave people immersed. This allows for deep and difficult topics to be discussed and for people to trust they will be cared for in the end.
Preaching for me is relational and interactive. I often said to the congregation “this sermon will be interactive so no sleeping today.” This means I don’t believe I have all the answer or have everything figured out. I believe it is work we all need to do and I hope to provide avenues for us to explore that work during a sermon. This may be through storytelling; questions to answer; small group discussion; an activity; or even brainstorming.
Examples of Sermons:
Removing the Obstacles to Joy – Guest Preacher at Main Line Unitarian Church (Video)