Preaching Blind

From behind his pulpit, Dr. Travis Freeman faces his audience. Subconsciously his index finger brushes across the side of his notes. He checks the time, inhales deeply, and launches into his sermon. For seasoned preachers, the first few ticks of a Sunday sermon probably feel very similar. Except for one thing—Travis Freeman is totally blind.

Cavernous sinus thrombosis stole Freeman's eyesight when he was 12, but that did not stop him from playing high school football with the Corbin Redhounds in Corbin, Kentucky. Freeman played third-string center although his coach, Mike Whitaker, insists that he was more than that to the team, recognizing #63 as their team's "spiritual leader." A movie, 23 Blast, has recently released about Freeman's football experiences.

After achieving a 4.0 at Corbin High, Freeman went on to earn a BA, an MDiv, and a Ph.D in preaching. Today he's a professor at the University of the Cumberlands, CEO of The Freeman Foundation, just finished his first book, and preaches everywhere he's given the opportunity.

Where many preachers grow exhausted struggling to shore up their weaknesses, Freeman has overcome great challenges by focusing on his strengths. Bryan Catherman interviewed him on preaching.

Bryan: When you went blind, was there doubt that you would attend college?

Travis: When I first lost my sight, college was the farthest thing from my mind. It was just a matter of how do I make it through the next day. Could I be normal? Was I going to be able to fit in or even go to school? But as I got into the flow of school and started doing well there, there was really never any doubt as to whether I would go to college.

Why a Ph.D in preaching?

When I was a sophomore in college the Lord got a hold of me, and the next thing I knew I was looking at seminary. I had a semester or two left when I decided I wanted to do a Ph.D. I didn't know if I could do a Ph.D in systematics. I knew New Testament and Old Testament would be even more difficult, especially trying to deal with blindness and the languages. I didn't want to do leadership or church history, which left me with preaching. Don't get me wrong, I love everything about preaching and feel it is valuable. I believed I could do well in this area of study so that's what I did.

What are the differences between you and a sighted preacher in the pulpit?

You're not going to see me move around on the stage a whole lot. I struggle with hand gestures because I don't see people use them—that's not a natural thing for me. Beyond that, I don't know that you're going to see many differences. Actually, there have been people who have seen me preach entire sermons and not realize that I was blind.

What do you do in the pulpit to overcome the challenges of blindness?

Technology has absolutely revolutionized the way I can do things. I think I could preach without the technology but my preparation would be much more difficult and take a lot more time.

For starters, I use a BrailNote, a device that utilizes mechanical brail to raise characters that I can feel and read. I can press a button to change to the next set of characters. It also has a clock so I know how long I've gone. Depending on what I'm preaching, I might also bring my iPad. It has voiceover and will speak to me through an ear bud. I do that if I'm going to be reading lengthy texts from the Bible. Typically however, I only use the BrailNote, and usually only for the clock. When I've prepared the sermon and it's on my heart, I can do just about everything from memory.

Other than the words you say, are you able to connect with the audience?

Actually, I work to make eye contact. I generally know where the audience is so I know how and where to direct my eyes. I'll look their way and gesture toward them hoping to create a connection. Hopefully if you don't know I'm blind, you won't figure that out by my preaching.

Do you look down when you read from your BrailNote or iPad as if you're reading notes like a sighted person?

I have no idea! That's not anything I've thought about. I don't think I do.

How do you receive feedback from the audience during the sermon?

If it's not verbal, I don't get feedback. Obviously, I can't see their faces so any feedback I do get is purely auditory. That's just something I have to deal with. I recognize that it's a challenge so I think it through while I'm preparing my sermon. However, there have been times when I could kind of sense that people were restless and I needed to make a change.

What do you have to do when you prepare your sermons that a sighted preacher might find unnecessary?

First, I memorize the entire text from which I'm preaching. Next is the challenge of being able to read the material. I can't just skim a commentary.

In seminary I would take books and photo-scan them. I have a computer program that reads it back to me. I did all my reading in school and even all of my research for my dissertation that way. I spent 30 hours before each semester just scanning entire books so I could listen to them later. That was a big challenge and it can be the same when I prepare a sermon today.

What advantage does your blindness give you over sighted preachers?

I don't have to deal with potential visual distractions. Unlike some of my preaching friends, I've not been distracted by the woman breastfeeding on the back row. I would like to think my preaching benefits from this advantage; but then, I don't really know. I just do the best with what I have and not worry about what I don't.

Those reading this interview may not be blind, but we all have strengths and weaknesses we live with. What wisdom would you share with other preachers in dealing with weaknesses?

The key is to remember that when we're facing a struggle or obstacle, we can't allow our weakness to define how we think about God. Instead, we must allow God to define what we think about our circumstances. We all have disabilities and weaknesses. We all have areas where we ought to use our strengths to overcome our weaknesses.

I would also hope that the message of my life, in many ways, is that disability does not equal inability.

Bryan Catherman is lead pastor at Redeeming Life Church and a staff pastor at Risen Life Church, both in Salt Lake City, Utah.