The Minister’s Workshop: The Way to Note-Free Preaching

One of the greatest joys of the ministry is the spontaneity of note-free preaching. Freedom from notes is worth all that it costs. It depends mainly on three factors in preparation: saturation, organization, and memorization. The last-named factor will be treated in a later study.

Whatever method of preparation the preacher may follow, he needs to be thoroughly familiar with his material. “No man can be eloquent on a subject that he does not understand,” as Cicero, the greatest orator of ancient Rome, declared two thousand years ago. One of the penalties of plagiarism is that it so largely bypasses the processes of saturation. For the expenditure of time and thought and labor, there is no substitute.

Strong churches are not gathered around weak pulpits. And if the discipline of thoroughness and accuracy in preparation seems rugged at first, nothing that the minister does is more rewarding; and in time such sermonizing becomes one of his greatest joys.

For retention and recall, in note-free preaching, the structure “must be simple, obvious, natural, so that it fixes itself in the mind; and it must be clearly articulated in its parts.” With a good outline, the preacher commits to memory a progression of thoughts rather than words, and is never tied to a particular phraseology. A rambling discourse, on the other hand, practically defies memorization, and keeps the preacher bound to his notes.

One way of preaching without notes is to write out and memorize the full manuscript. This has been the method of some of our great preachers. But to memorize a ten-page manuscript for every service calls for prodigious feats of memory; and few preachers could endure the staggering demands of such a procedure two or three times a week, or oftener.

For the great majority of preachers, it seems fairly well established that a carefully prepared outline, the product of hours of labor, is the best preparation for the pulpit. This involves lifelong discipline to conciseness and accuracy of expression. While concise, the outline must carry enough of the sermon so that it can be recalled as needed, perhaps weeks or months or even years later.

A few brave souls go into the pulpit regularly with no notes of any kind. For most preachers, with two or three new messages to deliver every week, this might be sheer recklessness, and at times an invitation to disaster. There may be times when the preacher, whatever his usual practice may be, will need his notes. This could happen if he is weary or physically below par, or if he has been prevented from getting adequate preparation, or if there is an emergency in the preaching service itself. It seems wise, therefore, to have notes that can be carried into the pulpit.

For convenient handling, a loose-leaf notebook of 5 × 7¾ inches is often favored as first choice. Such a notebook is about the size of the average Bible, and a leaf will fit easily between the pages of the Bible. By writing on both sides, it is possible to carry a full sermon outline on the two sides of one sheet; or it could be carried on one side of two opposite sheets in the notebook. This presupposes conciseness, and abbreviations wherever possible.

A better plan, perhaps, for the preacher who is reasonably confident of not having to use his notes in the pulpit, is to place his outline on one side of one sheet of 8½ × 11 inches, thus providing longer lines and greater flexibility in notation. Folded once, this will fit easily into the Bible. It presents the advantage of keeping the whole outline in view throughout the phase of preparing, and leaving room on the back side of the sheet for detailed data with which the outline itself should not be encumbered.

For a thirty-minute sermon, there might be from thirty to thirty-six lines, or approximately one line to a paragraph. For brevity, every preacher must develop his own system of shorthand or abbreviations. For memorization, as will be pointed out later, it is generally preferable that the outline be handwritten rather than typewritten.—Adapted from Expository Preaching without Notes, by Charles W. Koller (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker Book House, 1962). Used by permission.

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