At about twelve noon every Sunday thousands of sermons pass into oblivion with an amen and a closing hymn. Their demise, in some cases, is most fortunate. Yet others are good enough to be shared with a larger audience. Here are some suggestions for getting more mileage out of your sermons.
A tape ministry. Sermons on tape (cassette and reel to reel) are catching on fast. Buy a supply of cassette players (available at $10 to $15) that can be checked out of your church library along with the tapes. My church lends players to anyone of high-school age or above for two weeks; the loan may be renewed for one week if the player is not on call by another borrower. Cassettes are great for people who spend a lot of time commuting.
Many churches lend tapes by mail. Make your tape catalogues available to your congregation for sending to friends. Tapes by mail may be the only solid spiritual food that some believers in isolated areas can get.
Printed sermons. The printed page has the distinct advantage of being easily carried and used. I have had each week’s sermon printed on legal-size paper and folded and stapled for mailing or for use as a handout. When the sermon is on a contemporary issue or on areas of critical need such as the Christian home, people appreciate immediate access to the material. Practically every pastor has been met at the door on Sunday morning with a remark something like, “I wish my sister in Detroit could have heard that sermon!” The sister in Detroit can, if the sermon is in print.
Another method is a sermon series published in booklet form. Several thousand copies of a series on Christian home have been moved this way. A small charge for the booklet will help finance the effort. The sermons may be transcribed from a tape recording of your sermon or from your sermon manuscript. Working from a manuscript offers a definite advantage; you have already edited what you want to say.
Ray Stedman of Peninsula Bible Church in Palo Alto, California, has a flourishing ministry of printed sermons. The operation, which costs $600 a week, has its own publications director and publication manager. Current sermons and back sermons in great demand are available in the church foyer, and hundreds of sermons a year old or more are in a large rack at the rear of the church. A catalogue and the aid of an attendant are available.
Some churches publish a weekly or monthly paper. A digest of the previous week’s sermon or an outline with Scripture references may be a good way to recall the sermon to mind and provoke further thought and study. During a series it would give the congregation a midweek link between sermons and prepare them for the one to come.
Newspaper digest. Some newspapers are interested in what local preachers are saying. For example, for several years Beryl Keene, religious editor of the Northern Virginia Sun, did a column called “A Stranger Visits a Church” in which she wrote a complete digest of a sermon. I kept her supplied with a copy of my sermon every week; so supplied, she gave me far more coverage than any other area pastor.
The Washington Post carried a shorter digest of sermons every Monday morning. The material had to speak to national concerns, however. I was most fortunate to have a journalist in my congregation who kept the Post supplied with well-written digests. Scout your congregation; someone may already have the newspaper contacts you need.
Newspaper ad. A glance at the Saturday church page usually reveals a hopeless jumble of church ads. Even if the casual reader stops to examine them, usually the only information he gets about a sermon is the title.
I comb my sermon for the item that seems to have the most popular interest, perhaps the conclusion of the sermon or an application of one of the points. Then I write about twenty-five words to hook the reader’s interest. The headline of the ad may or may not be the sermon title. The most important consideration of the headline is that it avoids the usual “churchy” language that appears on the church page.
Magazine features. Editors of the several hundred Christian periodicals and denominational magazines published today are always on the lookout for timely, well written material. But by no means is every sermon a potential magazine article. Let your manuscript simmer on the back burner for several days. Then come back and read it as though it had been written by someone else. Attack it critically! If the sermon survives this appraisal, it may be worth rewriting for submission to a magazine.
If this possibility interests you, read all you can on the subject of writing. Christian Writers Institute in Wheaton offers courses in writing. And Decision magazine will be announcing its next writers’ workshop in its January issue.
Radio and television. Many ministers have avoided using radio and television either because of prohibitive expense or because they feel they lack technical know-how. But neither problem is insurmountable. Station owners, aware of interest in religion, usually are willing to listen to your ideas on how to get the public to watch or listen to their station. Get to know the station owners or managers and find out what they want. Let the question of financing come later. The owners or managers will do what they can to help you get on the air if your ideas are good enough.
Surprisingly, the broadcasting of church services still holds interest. One congregation in Indiana purchased equipment and had the inside of the church remodeled to accommodate television cameras. The station engineer trained members of the congregation to operate the camera and audio equipment.
One of the most unusual telecasts is “The Bible For the Deaf” in Columbia, South Carolina. It is a Bible lesson designed for those with hearing loss, broadcast for a half hour on Saturday. The program offers a complete church service with Bible readings, hymns, and a sermon. The cameras are not only on the minister and musicians; they also follow an expert who translates the service into sign language. The program has drawn much praise not only from the deaf but also from others who appreciate a ministry to a particular human need.
A broadcast sermon may be followed by a “talk back” segment in which listeners may respond to the sermon by telephone with questions and comments. Response from a live audience in the studio is another possibility.
If you’re interested in radio and TV, read a lot on the subject and talk with the local station owners or managers. This barely tapped-field of religious programming may be for you.—ANDRE BUSTANOBY, pastor, Temple Baptist Church, Fullerton, California.
