Other "Thinking Drafts" and writing by Keith Drury -- http://www.indwes.edu/tuesday .

This column described the changes the last few decades in a TV weatherman's work, asking how preaching has changed in the last 25 years. Some of your selected responses to trigger further thinking...

From: "Terry Dawson" (TerryDawson@worldnet.att.net)
. . . far more entertainment and clowning than preaching and teaching. There's no reason to be boring (which, perhaps, a chunk of the preaching was 25 years ago) the Bible isn't boring . . . but the move to the dog and pony show, and the flavor of the month is wearying. Our job hasn't changed: to teach people to walk, act, talk and think like Jesus. I have to stop and owner if this is what we're doing. Is this the mission that is easily seen as people walk into our services? -- Terry Dawson

From: namewitheld
I went to church this morning. There was a wonderful time of worship. Between each song or chorus, the leader spoke a few minutes, sometimes prayed. One hour and 18 minutes later the pastor got up to preach. He spoke about 10 minutes. I would guess about half as long as the worship leader had if you put his all together. I am wondering if in these troubled times if it is really God who needs to hear from us and not we from Him? -- Don't print my name please

From: "Valued Customer" (humble4@bright.net)
Much of the preaching style I have heard in the last few years seems to be a reaction to the old " camp meeting" style preaching... The trend to more conversational and laid back delivery styles has been a blessing and a curse. There are some very effective conversational preachers. They are wonderfully gifted in this area. It seems, however that a majority of those who are so afraid to show a little emotion while preaching come across as passionless and lifeless. While their sermon content may be wonderful, the methodical and plodding delivery leaves me bored and wondering if the individual speaking believes what they are saying. Preaching is a great challenge and opportunity. Giving people a reason to listen is directly linked to style and the unique anointing given by the Holy Spirit. --Wes Humble, humble4@bright.net

From: COVBC@aol.com
Your column came at a time when I have been thinking a great deal about the presentation of preachers. Has the time come when to continue to accommodate ourselves to the sound-bite, tell-me-what-I-want-to-hear- before-I-change-channels-with-my-remote, shallow-thinking character of our age?... There are some packages into which the gospel cannot be stuffed without distortion. HM

From: GENE SCHENCK (gschenck@asheboro.com)
Yes, I believe that preaching has changed in the last 25 yrs., but more so in the last 50 yrs. Is it for the better? I would say no...Too much human in today's preaching and not enough of God anointed preaching. Too much preaching to itch the ears and keep the people coming! Not as much stirring messages on sin, hell, and the judgment! Not enough burden for the lost. Don't aim at nothing and you won't hit anything. Who preaches against scriptural worldliness?.. --Gene Schenck @ asheboro.com

From: holy3x7@ncats.newaygo.mi.us (Jonathan B. White)
The real problem is not so much in the style of the weather-preacher (although the clowns are way over the top!) but in the perception that the main point is to be in touch with the weather. I seldom watch the weather. I have things to do that I must do "in season and out of season." If my suit gets wet, that's a cost of doing business. The farmer studies the weather for a purpose...to sow the seed at the most opportune moment. We've been called to plow, sow, and harvest, not to comment on the weather. - Jonathan White

Tyler Cox tcox@ccu.edu
While there has been somewhat of a general trend, it hasn't been universal. For instance, local markets (like Chicago and Indy) sometimes still prize the quality of the forecasting information. But more important than this trend is the multiplication of weather-information sources. Each person theoretically can find the information he or she wants in the package he or she prefers. Yes, many preachers model themselves after Jay Leno and David Letterman (who incidentally started as a "weatherman"). And there is a tendency for the congregation to respond more to form than substance. And attention spans have shrunk--even among those who never watch MTV, or never admit watching MTV. But there is still a market for substance. In fact, I suspect this is a huge market. There is not a lot of competition. People don't read, so the preacher can't make literary allusions. (Movie and TV allusions are OK.) But the allusion can be transformed into a brief story. Biblical allusions are not even safe. But the same strategy can be used with them... If someone wishes to become an effective preacher he or she cannot ignore the importance of the mechanism of communication: humor, body language, vocal inflection, elimination of annoying mannerisms, etc. But the message cannot get lost in the method, or there is no communication. I believe that there will always be a market for substantive preaching. But this is not a market-driven calling. We don't preach because people want to hear what we have to say. We preach because we can't keep quiet. Whoops! Time to quit. I've started preaching about preaching. --Tyler Cox tcox@ccu.edu

From: nawynsense@juno.com (sandyrichie D Nawyn)
1. Preaching in the 60's and 70's focused on "bring 'em in to the church and get 'em saved" Messages of hell, fire, and brimstone, big-top-type rallies, tent events, and revivals to reach the lost with an adequate amount of guilt if you didn't invite a friend or neighbor.

2. The mid-to-late 70's and 80's proved that less and less people were going to church, so the fiery sermons were replaced with "heck, fire, and a small smattering (in Pooh style) of brimstone." Who wanted or needed all that brimstone stuff anyway? Let's reach people by softening the message and going out to get them rather than trying to "bring 'em in" to the church. Coffee houses, early praise music, and para church ministries sprung up wildly to reach people. That was the order of the day.

3. With the 80's and 90's fall of the Baker/Swaggart TV preachers, people became more skeptical about religion. They knew they could live without God before, but this really confirmed it. We're moving toward home churches where ministry really takes place by ALL the church members and freeing preachers up to preach a message of salvation and hope in God. -- Rich Nawyn

From: Wesley McCallum (mccallum@ulster.net)
Changes... 1. VARIETY VS. LOYALTY: Yesterday's viewers were loyal... they always listened to the same forecaster. Today's viewers are channel surfers looking for the forecast that best suits their needs.

2. TECHNICAL VS. PERSONAL: Yesterday's viewers studied the maps, read their Bible, and checked up on the forecaster. Today's viewer is too busy for details (that's the forecaster's job) they just want a quick summary to make personal plans.

3. STORMY VS. SUNNY: Yesterday's forecaster warned us about coming storms, tornadoes, and blizzards. Today's forecaster reports what we want to hear, rain on the crops, sun at the shore, and snow on the ski slopes.

4. FORECASTING VS. REPORTING: Yesterday we heard the weather forecast; today we hear the weather report. Yesterday the focus was upon the Eastern Sky, the flashes of lightning from east to west, something was coming on the horizon. Today's focus is on cleaning up after the storm, putting our lives back together, and optimism for future plans.

4. EL NINO EFFECT: It is interesting that God interrupts predicable weather patterns and reminds us just who is sovereign over human events. Is our preaching predicable and monotonous, our does it make room for divine revelation and intervention? --Wesley McCallum (mccallum@ulster.net)

From: COVBC@aol.com
I do a one minute radio/Internet spot, Mon-Fri. called Something to Think About (STTA). I thought you might be interested in this one. --Howard
3/2/98 Hello, this is STTA. I appreciate people who make me think. College instructor Keith Drury does. He recently wrote an article comparing TV weather-forecasters to preachers. There was the expert weather forecaster of a by-gone era, then the good-looking, perky, witty, entertaining weather person and finally the "weather-clown." Indeed the person that comes most readily to mind started his career as Ronald McDonald. If Shtick over-shadows substance in a weather report it may not matter. But, where do we preachers fit into this picture? Where do you laymen expect your preacher to fit in? Those of us who stand in pulpits need to have a word from God. There is certainly nothing wrong with delivering it in an interesting way, but there must be substance, not just empty style. Those of us who vote with the part of our anatomy that either is or isn't in the pew, need to ask ourselves, not merely what we want, but what we need. It's STTA from the CBC. STTA is a ministry of Covington Bible Church. STTA originated as a radio ministry... you can hear it about 12:20 PM on WIQO FM, 100.9 -- Howard Merrell.

From: Tim Elmore (time@injoy.com)
...how preaching has changed over the last several years. It has... changed in the following ways, both good and bad...

1. Public Speaker to Communicator - People don't want an orator as much as someone to converse with them over issues.

2. Information to Application - Church goers aren't content with mere information for information's sake; they want practical application they can flesh out in their lives Monday morning.

3. Long Discourse to Short Course - People generally have shorter attention spans, and prefer to address one issue, rather than get information overload. They want a "tidbit" that counts.

4. Complex to Simple - I don't think people are awestruck by educated speakers, anymore, who are so deep that every issue seems complex. They would prefer deep...but simple. No pretensions. Put the cookies on the bottom shelf.

5. Abstract to Concrete - People are in greater need now than ever for concrete illustrations and examples. Truth needs pictures added to the points. People have been in front of the TV for way too long.

6. Real Needs to Felt Needs - Times were that the pastor could do a whole series on deep, theological truths that may or may not change the way their congregation lives on Monday morning. Now, people (especially the unchurched) seem to want messages that address practical, felt needs--even if they are temporal issues.

7. Theological Language to Vernacular - The preacher's "voice" and language is out, at least for baby boomers and busters. Who knows--maybe the mosaic generation may welcome it back.

8. Formal to Genuine. While Generation X is often attracted by the mystical, I still believe that even mystical subjects need to be addressed with authentic methods and messages. No one wants something plastic or artificial.

Theses changes may be a pendulum that swings back in a few years with the next group of adults that enter and influence the church programming. However, these are changes I have noticed in my own experience... --Tim Elmore

From: Jim and Lois Watkins (watkins@noblecan.org)
Unfortunately, it's not the news director who determines whether to hire a meteorologist or a clown. Viewers vote with their remotes on who is hired and fired in TV news. Worse, the Christian book publishers also use reader preferences to determine what and whom they publish. Both the publishers and book store owners are concerned about the trend toward fluff (and three-fourths of the store devoted to non-books), but again its the customers who set the book list with their checkbooks. In the same way, I suspect it's the people in the pews who determine the style of the preaching. (In congregationally-governed churches, they wield the pastoral vote like a TV remote.) -- Jim Watkins www.noblecan.org/~watkins

To contribute to the thinking on this issue e-mail your response to Tuesday@indwes.edu