Are you looking for new ideas? Or new ways of bringing the Way of Jesus to people in your community? Or methods for becoming a more sustainable congregation financially? Or even how to adapt your worship practices to draw in younger generations by meeting their needs and desires? If so, here’s some good news - help is available!
The ELCA develops many such tools to help congregations forward their ministry to their community. Most rostered leaders are aware of the variety of resources that can be found at ELCA.org/Resources. However, many of us lay leaders have yet to explore this wealth of information. Thanks to initiatives by staff at the churchwide organization, many new resources are regularly being added to the Resources page.
I want to point you to one recent addition that is a free download. A new book written by well-known author and presenter Dave Daubert is titled THE INCARNATIONAL PREACHER. The title may sound familiar because many in our synod used Daubert’s book, THE INVITATIONAL CHRISTIAN as a guide for inspiration and transformation in your congregations. You can access his new book with this link:
If you are a lay person reading this article, you may ask, “What does a book about preaching have to do with me? Isn’t that for my pastor to figure out?” I offer this reflection…. all of us in the church can take part in the message our pastor brings each week. We do this first by listening intently for how the message strengthens and renews us for the week ahead. Our participation beyond just the hearing of the message, may include reading the scripture text before and after Sunday’s sermon. Then asking ourselves “In light of what God was up to in the text then, what is God saying to us now and, as a result, what is God seeking to call forth from us as the body of Christ?” (see page 27 of The Incarnational Preacher).
This is just one example of Daubert’s reflection questions that appear at the end of each chapter, intended for the preacher to use to refine their weekly sermon, but which also provide a rich scope for anyone who wants to be an active participant in the sermon. That is, after all, the gospel message about “the work of God to redeem and heal the world through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus” (see page 29). You may gather a few others or even invite your Bible study group to read and discuss a chapter at a time. All you need to do is replace the references to ‘preacher’ or ‘pastor’ with ‘member of the body of Christ’ (that means you!) and talk about the questions posed.
The book is not available in hardcopy (not yet anyway) so download the book by clicking the button above or by going to ELCA.org/Resources, then type in the search bar: The Incarnational Preacher by Daubert. You will then see the link to download the online version. Easy enough? Do it now! If you have trouble or any questions, please contact me at the email listed below. You can always get in touch to let me know how things are going in your congregation or if I can help you find resources on other pertinent topics.
With you on the Way,
Mary Morrow
Director for Evangelical Mission
mary.morrow@nwimsynod.org