A Voice to Speak
A Guide to Effective Sermon Delivery by Jerry Vines, Moody, $9.95
Reviewed by Scott Wenig, singles pastor, Bear Valley Baptist Church, Denver, Colorado
“The words hit me like a laser beam. ‘You will have to be completely silent for the next two weeks. You have a nodule on the anterior third of your right vocal cord. Surgery is the only way to remove it. I’m not sure when you will be back in the pulpit. Perhaps ninety days or longer.’ “
With these few sentences, Jerry Vines introduces the reader to a personal crisis, which, ironically, became one of the greatest blessings of his life.
The threat of throat surgery forced Vines, senior pastor of First Baptist Church in Jacksonville, Florida, into a program of speech rehabilitation. Through this process he learned new patterns of speaking that cured the problem, thereby saving him from the surgeon’s knife During the course of his recovery, Vines became an intense student of speech in general and preaching in particular. Ultimately, the result of this potential disaster was not only a salvaged voice but an outstanding book on preaching, aptly titled A Guide to Effective Sermon Delivery.
From experience and observation, Vines concludes that many preachers unintentionally misuse their voices. This tendency, combined with the tensions inherent in the pastorate, produces unnecessary vocal strain. Vines has sought in this book to help pastors prevent the abuse of one of their most valuable assets.
But proper vocal care is not the author’s only reason for writing. A second goal is to help pastors “become effective in communicating the Word of God to people.” Vines acknowledges that most preachers are capable enough when it comes to sermon content. But to become an effective communicator, he feels, “the preacher must not only prepare his sermons well, he must also deliver them well.”
Vines reemphasized this focus on delivery in a recent phone conversation. He stated, “Most pastors have been taught how to manufacture a sermon, but they haven’t been taught the basics of marketing. Any training we can receive in the use of the voice or the dramatic arts will only aid us in becoming more effective communicators.”
In Vines’s homiletical format, effective sermon delivery is like a wheel supported by five spokes: the mechanical, mental, rhetorical, psychological, and spiritual aspects of preaching. His suggestions on the mental aspects of preaching exemplify just a few of his many insights. Vines argues that if the message is to make an impact, it must come alive during the moment of delivery as well as in the study. In the author’s words, “Sermons must not only be born; they must be born again.”
For this to occur, the sermon must be both visualized and vitalized. This happens when the preacher uses his imagination to help the audience “see what he says.” According to Vines, “Imagination is the difference between a good and an average preacher. [If you] visualize what you say . . . it will vitalize the words as you speak them.”
He uses the example of Jonathan Edwards’s sermon, “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God,” replete with a loathsome insect hanging “by a slender thread, with the flames of divine wrath flashing around it, and ready at any moment to singe and burn it asunder.” With images like that, Vines writes, “people grasped the pillars and pews of the church to keep from sliding into hell.”
When I asked for one way pastors could improve their preaching, he said, “Read written sermons aloud.” He recommended Spurgeon for this exercise: “His sermons abound in the use of word pictures and will also give your voice a good workout. A regular program of reading Spurgeon aloud will not only strengthen your voice but also aid you in helping people see what you’re trying to say.”
The book is a how-to manual on everything from proper breathing and care for the voice to the use of the body when speaking. For example, Vines advises preachers to never drink milk before preaching, since it builds up mucus in the throat. In the section on the psychological aspects of preaching, he describes how good body movement is essential in making the audience react to the message. “Let your body speak for you,” he writes. “If we frown as we describe taking a dose of castor oil, they will too.”
Possibly most helpful is the section on the spiritual aspects of sermon delivery. He notes, “We are witnessing a strange inconsistency at present. Ours is an emotion-centered generation. Yet most preaching is unemotional.” To counteract the emotive desert of the contemporary pulpit, Vines fervently pleads for a return to what he labels “heart preaching,” in which preachers deliver themselves as well as their sermons. “The genuinely effective preacher is one who puts everything he has into his sermon,” according to Vines. “When he speaks, his sincerity and enthusiasm generate sparks. That kind of effectiveness cannot be imitated, for sincerity and earnestness are impossible to manufacture. They come from deep within the heart and spirit of a preacher.”
As a practical tool to improve the dynamics of your preaching or as a guide to proper vocal care, this book is hard to beat.
Matching Needs with People
The Art of Recruiting Volunteers by Mark Senter III, Victor, $9.95
Building a Caring Church by Tom and Janie Lovorn, Victor, $8.95
Reviewed by Mark A. Lamport, assistant professor of youth ministry, Gordon College, Wenham, Massachusetts
Ferdinand Marcos, recently exiled ruler of the Philippines, once claimed, “Leadership is the other side of the coin of loneliness, and he who is a leader must always act alone.” As we now know, his statement became a self-fulfilling prophecy. Unfortunately, some church leaders also buy into Marcos’s philosophy of “I can do it myself” leadership. Others, happily, seek to involve the gifted laity in the work of ministry.
The Art of Recruiting Volunteers and Building a Caring Church show us step by step how to involve volunteers in two significant ministries: education and caring.
Have you ever known that uneasy feeling in the pit of your stomach when you realize it is time-again-to recruit church workers? You recall the countless phone calls you made last time to cajole one unsuspecting soul into service. The Art of Recruiting Volunteers seeks to relieve that queasy feeling.
Mark Senter’s eleven years as a youth minister, seven years as a pastor of Christian education, and three years as a professor at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School provide background as he weaves a fictional scenario of a fresh-out-of-seminary DCE, Jeff Thompson, who meets his staffing problems with sound principles for recruiting and preparing volunteers.
“Properly understood and employed,” Senter writes, “recruitment is an answer to renewal in the local church.” Yet, Senter realizes, recruitment is a serious problem. Why?
First, various factors discourage volunteerism: working women, absentee fathers, fear of a lifetime commitment, lack of theology of service, and a vacuum of prayer are a few Senter names. “The church, caught up in the pay-me-what-I’m-worth cultural mentality, is finding itself more and more dependent on paid staff members and less and less on the volunteers, who at one time were the backbone of the church’s ministry.”
Second, leaders haven’t always employed a systematic approach to selecting, training, and retaining volunteer workers. Although Senter aptly describes the first problem, the book primarily answers this second problem. Senter’s main concern is identifying those with gifts and interests and then matching them with ministry opportunities. Detailed chapters on planning, publicity, evaluation, and prayer refocus the task of staffing positions from a dreaded chore to a shepherding role.
The contents are replete with sample letters, planning calendars, a talent and interest survey, service commitment forms, and a full-scale worker enlistment program. The principles apply to any church, large or small. The straight-forward, well-organized approach offers church leaders a method to solve the ubiquitous problem of acquiring and enabling volunteers in ministry.
Tom and Janie Lovorn have written Building a Caring Church to mobilize volunteers for “caring people into the Kingdom.” Tom says, “Some have mistakenly divided the Christian message into social gospel and evangelistic gospel. That is a false dichotomy; it is a total gospel.” Therefore, this book reflects a holistic concern for people’s temporal needs as well as their afterlife.
Tom, pastor of Monumental Baptist Church in Petersburg, Virginia, and Janie, the former full-time care coordinator, contend the church has in many cases forfeited its caring role to social agencies: “Who feeds the needy between Christmas and the next Thanksgiving?” Building a Caring Church convinces us there is much that can be done.
The ministry of caring the Lovorns outline is based on four principles: serving the total person, seeking out needs, utilizing capable leaders who will follow through, and providing everyone an outlet for service. Such services include yard work, minor repair, visiting, preparing food, and providing transportation.
The Lovorns suggest a full-time care coordinator identify needs and assign people to care for them. Nonetheless, the ideas can be modified for a volunteer or part-time position.
While acknowledging the inevitable difficulties of caring ministries, the authors provide straightforward responses to questions that arise. Two examples: Where does the money come from to pay for people’s bills, repairs, food? Answer: Write it into the church budget like other important items, or seek contributions as people see good things happening.
Question: Isn’t it their own fault if people find themselves in need? Answer: Check with the people themselves and help them solve the root of the problem, not only the apparent need.
Two chapters on ideas provide a plethora of suggestions for caring, such as checking on the elderly, sitting with the ill, ministering with the handicapped, counseling by phone, providing hospital equipment, or teaching classes for those with special needs. Numerous examples of sample letters, report forms, and training aids provide the structure to help put good intentions into practice.
Aiding the needy in the name of Jesus draws them closer to him and into fellowship with his body, the church. For the Lovorns, that is the bottom line: to reflect the image of God by caring for the body.
Both books major on the practical. Their workbook format and brisk style make them useful resources for the Christian education committee or the board of deacons.
Better Sunday Schools
The Trouble-Shooting Guide to Christian Education by John R. Cionca, Accent, $7.95
Reviewed by Paul Borthwick, minister of missions, Grace Chapel, Lexington, Massachusetts
Where will I find the money for Sunday school curriculum? How can I round up enough people to maintain our Christian education program? And what about adult classes?
If you have asked these questions, you’ll appreciate John Cionca’s Trouble-Shooting Guide to Christian Education. Written from the perspective of a pastor (before Cionca recently became dean and Christian education professor at Bethel Seminary), the book reflects Cionca’s parish experience as a youth worker, director of Christian education, and senior pastor.
The book is written in a question-and-answer format, covering questions Cionca faced as a church worker and his most frequently heard questions from pastors, DCEs, and lay leaders. It progresses through the various aspects of the Christian education ministry-staffing, organization, program, curriculum, training, facilities, and evaluation. Charts, sample job descriptions, and other forms are featured throughout the book. Several chapters contain extensive resource lists on subjects such as training, puppetry, and video cassette suppliers, to name a few.
“I wrote this book to help pastors multiply their own ministries through well-trained coaches, their lay coordinators,” said Cionca in a telephone interview. “The pastor may get only thirty minutes in the sermon to teach the congregation, but Sunday school workers get up to sixty minutes with their students. In light of this fact, pastors do well to build the Christian education program-not only by increasing knowledge but also through encouragement, team building, and guidance.”
Cionca wrote the book out of particular concern for Christian education in the church of two hundred members or less. He wanted to help the reader see Christian education in workable terms.
“This book may seem simple,” said Cionca, “but I believe Christian education is not as complex as we might make it.”
The Trouble-Shooting Guide is full of common sense. Here’s how Cionca answers the question, “How can we increase attendance in our program?”
“The first step in increasing a Sunday school’s attendance is to have a good Sunday school. You’ve sat in classes, and I’ve sat in classes, that are so poor that only an extreme commitment to Christ will enable the person to endure week after week. While some people have that kind of commitment, the average person will only attend programs that are enjoyable, biblical, and personally relevant. When these qualities characterize our program, attendance is likely to increase even with limited promotion.
“Improving the quality of the program is 80 percent of the battle. The remaining 20 percent is motivating people to have the attitude, ‘We want to let others know what they’re missing.’ “
Cionca continues, “Rally days and occasional attendance contests have their place, but the most consistent method for increase is to have our people possess the attitude: ‘This is a great place to learn what God says about life. You would really enjoy and benefit from this program. Why don’t you come with me next Sunday?’ “
I found The Trouble-Shooting Guide useful in day-to-day ministry issues. The question-and-answer format enabled me to use it as a reference volume. When someone complained about our staff-training meetings, I turned to Cionca’s advice and compared my thoughts with his.
Cionca deals with the state of Sunday school in the 1980s. He writes with understanding for the overworked pastor who is trying to juggle CE with his concern for the functioning of the entire church. He does not get preoccupied with lofty ideals but rather tries to be realistic about matters like curriculum costs (and how to trim them), methods of learning (maybe we can still use lectures), and leadership training.
The Trouble-Shooting Guide has two potential weaknesses. First, because of the format, it is a little choppy, jumping from question to question, often with little or no connection between the points. Second, it may seem a little overwhelming to those just starting out. However, they can glean the pertinent facts and leave the rest for future reference.
Cionca offers The Trouble-Shooting Guide so that pastors can improve their CE involvement as team leaders, encouragers, and pacesetters, while sharing the leadership load with other team members.
NEW AND NOTEWORTHY
How to Preach More Powerful Sermons by Homer K. Buerlein, Westminster, $10.95
This preaching book is written by a layman-a professional speaker and speech writer whose credentials include fifty-five years of pew sitting.
As a public speaking teacher, Buerlein knows solid content is never enough. To careful thinking and biblical research must also be added persuasive presentation. Buerlein therefore targets specific techniques, like the artful use of the . . . pause. He argues for provocative sermon titles and practiced use of gestures and body movements. He evaluates ways to translate a manuscript into notes and explains why the last few sentences said from the pulpit are the most important.
Reading this book is like getting a good dose of enlightened feedback from the pew, something no preacher wants to do without.
Stories for Telling by William R. White, Augsburg, $6.95
A man went to his rabbi with a question: “Rabbi, I understand almost all the law. I understand the commandment not to kill, the commandment not to steal. But I don’t understand the commandment against slandering my neighbor.”
The rabbi said, “before I answer, gather a sack of feathers. Place a single feather on the doorstep of each house in the village. When you have finished, return for your answer.”
The man soon returned. “Now, rabbi, give me the answer to my question. Why is it wrong to slander my neighbor?”
“Ah,” the rabbi said, “one more thing. Go back and collect all the feathers before I give you the answer.”
“But rabbi,” the man protested, “that is impossible! The wind will have blown them away.”
“So it is with the lies we tell about our neighbors,” the rabbi said. “They can never be retrieved. They are like feathers in the wind.”
This book is full of such folktales and stories for use by Christian communicators.
The Church Handbook, David Publishing, $9.95
This book tackles the sometimes-thorny issues facing the church leader Monday through Friday. A variety of contributors present help on tasks like building good staff relationships and laying out a readable newsletter. In one chapter, a management consultant explores new models of church organization and argues for honing relational skills. Another chapter features a recording engineer’s guidelines for choosing and using a sanctuary sound system.
Whether outlining legal steps for organizing a congregation as a nonprofit corporation, discussing estate planning, or listing checkpoints for buying a computer system, this handbook contains an array of practical, usable information.
Excellence in Leadership by John White, Intervarsity, $5.95
Every leader faces problems like criticism, dryness in prayer, the dimming of vision. White believes the Christian leader finds solutions to these situations in sources beyond secular management books; he draws on the prophet Nehemiah for a new model for excellence.
From Nehemiah, White finds that “The more time a committee spends in prayer, the less its members will have to spend in futile discussion.” White discovers that “People do not follow programs, but the people who inspire them.”
With biblical perception, this book points to a leadership style that is realistic while visionary, focused on priorities while sensitive to others, faithful yet practical.
Young Adult Ministry by Terry Hershey, Group, $12.95
Young adults (ages 18-35), who make up a large percentage of the adult population, unfortunately don’t often show up in churches. That, says Terry Hershey, comprises the promise and challenge of young adult ministry.
After thorough research on this group’s cultural influences, Hershey addresses topics like targeting singles or young marrieds, avoiding burnout, developing study material, and uncovering opportunities for small churches. This book manages to be practical without being trivial, enthusiastic without being trite.
The Pastor-Evangelist in Worship by Richard Stoll Armstrong, Westminster, $9.95
Evangelism is more than what happens in the crusade stadium or on neighborhood doorsteps, seminary professor Richard Armstrong believes. Evangelism also takes place at weekly worship. At least it should.
Here he examines how worship can convey the church’s faith through elements like singable hymns or well-trained ushers. Chapters on officiating at weddings and funerals observe ways the pastor can share faith as well as perform a service. This book helps pastors look through evangelistic glasses at the tasks of leading worship and preaching.
-Reviewed by Timothy Jones
Christ Our Peace Church of the Brethren
The Woodlands, Texas
Copyright © 1986 by the author or Christianity Today/Leadership Journal. Click here for reprint information on Leadership Journal.
