Well, I have experienced and survived my First Major Head-Banging-On-Walls Sermon Block.
(We will pause whilst all the experienced ministers pat me on my pointy little head and mention that it won't be the last time. And chuckle when they think I can't hear them.)
MLK Sunday and the Sunday Before the Inauguration of Barack Obama, Bringer of Hope, and Oh Yeah, Also the First Black American President. But no pressure!
I could have written 50 sermons on the topic, no problem. But to narrow it to one? So what will be the focus? Historical import? Responding to the the Call to win a victory for humanity? Day of Service? Contemporary Racism? Anti-oppression? Love?
Well, I prayed and meditated, and learned again what a temptress Research is. (So much easier to read and research than to actually write, have you noticed?)
I know Sermon Block will happen again. But I'm glad I'm done with this one.
So how did you figure out what sermon topic to choose?
ReplyDeleteI am also curious!
ReplyDeleteWaaaal ... two ministers were very helpful. One by asking the simple question, "What are you going to say?" and the other by being a muse.
ReplyDeleteFriends are good stuff, Maynard.
Then the big part for me was saying, Okay, what should really be its own sermon? That enabled me to put those to the side and say, "Those are for another day." As an example: Thandeka's book, Learning to Be White.
Weeding it all down, it came down to: address the historical connection to Unitarian Universalism (our church is primarily Real-New-UUs) and delve into what our responsibility is, moving forward.
And I relaxed and let it come together. Rev. Sean (and I need to tell him this) helped. I asked what his was about and he said he'd know when it was done.
Looking forward to reading sermons by others.