February 4th

Listening

To my dear TFMC family,

I’m heading out to Winnipeg this weekend for a pastor’s conference.  The conference begins on Monday morning with a Preaching Masterclass.  I signed up for this hoping to hone my preaching skills.  Shortly after registering, I was contacted by the teacher leading this class, asking me if I would be willing to give some input.  My first reaction was, who am I to share in a preaching Masterclass?

As I’ve thought about it this past week, I’ve realized that I already practice a lot of what they’re asking about. I might have something helpful to share—and if not, I can at least help get the conversation started.  So I have spent part of this week preparing a presentation responding to the question, “When I prepare to preach, how do you read your congregation and wider context with attentiveness to the Spirit?”  

And it really made me reflect on my process.  How exactly do I accomplish this? How do I “read" the congregation?  Where do I look for the Spirit in the life of the congregation?  How do I name the Spirit and the Spirit’s movement in the life of the congregation when I preach?  Or maybe to ask it another way, how is the congregation a participant in my preaching preparation?

Wendell Berry suggests, “There are no unsacred places; there are only sacred places and desecrated places.”  So, how am I looking for the sacred places amongst us?  How am I ‘reading’ the congregation and the wider context to notice the sacred amongst us? All great questions!

And as I’ve thought, it all comes down to listening.

I’ve thought this week of all the places where I’m listening to you.  Whether it's in visits, or during coffee time conversations, whether it’s in the Joys & Concerns expressed during worship, or in the small group book study.  I listen during meetings, council, worship, deacons, and especially during our large congregational meetings.  As a side note, it was a privilege to eavesdrop on the table conversations at this past week’s AGM.

I listen for themes and threads, I listen for stories of things that are valued, I listen for stories of meaning and remembrance.  I listen for growing edges, for places of friction, where I can see internal wrestling or struggle.  And I listen for how God, or the Spirit, or the Divine, or the Creator are being talked about explicitly, or implicitly.

It’s been a great exercise to do this for CMU.  I’m forced to speak about and describe what I implicitly am doing throughout the week.  It’s given me a chance to reflect on my process, and whether it’s helping or hindering me.  And it’s forced me to articulate my method.  It’s also a vulnerable experience.  I will be sharing this in front of colleagues, and they may very well have a different opinion or a different method.  And perhaps that’s a good thing.

Yours,

Craig Janzen Neufeld, Pastor