Preaching in a new community
On Sunday, I’ll preach my first of two sermons at St Luke’s. (By the time you read this, it will likely even have been finished.) It’s been a couple months since the last time I preached, and since it is one of the things I most enjoy about professional ministry, I’ve missed it.
Preaching in a new community is an intimidating thing, however. Even when one has, like I have in this circumstance, a bit of a head start within the congregation, having worshipped, broken bread, and been in the company of them now for three weeks, it is still intimidating. The pulpit — literally and figuratively — unfamiliar. It is unnerving to consider their expectations, to speak in a fashion that merges adequately the responsibilities of being both prophet and priest.
In this situation, there are the fears of the actual speaking patterns to contend with, as well. Will my accent be an obstacle to the words I hope to deliver? Will my choice of words translate in the way I hope they do? I am a temporary immigrant in this culture, will the message I bring offend sensibilities and cross boundaries in a way that moves beyond the prophetic and into the colonial? Will I make too many assumptions that I take to be universal which are really cultural?
And then, of course, there are the theological questions to deal with — and the fact that I’m preaching to a room full of retired clergypeople and other professional theologians! ”Pressure phoning on line 1!”
I am cautiously optimistic, however, and walk forward with tempered anticipation. After all, this isn’t the first time I’ve preached, and even if I should entirely bomb this time I have one more chance. I’m not going to transform others’ thinking or being (for good or bad) in one sermon alone; and chances are no one except me will even remember the details of my sermon come this time next week. Preaching is not just delivering a prophetic yet tender word; it’s also about expectation management and self-care.
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Daniel Ross-Jones serves as Minister for Youth & Young Adults at First Congregational Church of Palo Alto, United Church of Christ. Living in the San Francisco Bay Area for a time still measured in months, he is frequently getting lost and discovering treasures of a landscape very different from his Upper Midwestern roots. Green Jello Hotdish is a blog exploring the intersections of his days. 
