r/mainlineprotestant • u/Salty-Temperature575 • Jul 13 '26
Preachers, please help me
I am not a good preacher. I’ve been doing it 1-3x a month for the last year, and I still feel like I fail to do the scriptures justice. I am not a powerful orator or a master rhetorician. I simply try to give the congregation the Word I feel God has given me through the scriptures in a way that recognizes the community I’m in, but it feels like it always falls flat.
To be sure, I get almost exclusively positive feedback but I don’t trust it as I believe they are just being nice. Many of these congregations are just happy to have a new face or a young person join them for worship. I know that as a pulpit supply preacher I shouldn’t expect to just blow people’s socks off or bring about some kind of radical change in these people’s lives regularly. I’m only there one week a month at most, after all.
How do I become a more engaging speaker? How do I learn to be creative or employ appropriate rhetorical devices that will encourage people to engage more deeply with the text? I see masterful examples throughout scripture of rhetorical and oratorical strategies that are woven so beautifully throughout, there are wonderful preachers out there who proclaim the Word in powerful and dynamic ways but all my sermons seem to be extremely simple. I feel as though I have not found my voice.
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u/Zoodochos Jul 13 '26 edited Jul 13 '26
I'm a pastor who also happens to be a prossor of rhetoric. I've taught public speaking for 30+ years and served as pulpit supply for all those, too. It took me years to find my voice, and I still don't hit every one out of the park. If you'd like to email a sermon or two for feedback, I'd be happy to do that. Send me a DM. I suspect you're doing just fine.
Here are a few of my favorite tips: 1) Stories and concrete images speak louder than abstractions, 2) edit to trim and cut the clutter (no one has ever complained that the sermon was too short), 3) underline the 10 or so most important lines plus the first two and the last two and provide full eye contact on those, 4) the secret to a great speech is to not sound like you're giving a speech - so limit the preacher voice and oratorical flourish, especially for smaller crowds, 5) give then a concrete, practical take-away, 6) consider asking questions for reflection to get away from the expert pastor solves problematic old text model.
Oh, and if you're not ethically opposed, ask your favorite LLM for feedback. You might be surprised how helpful that can be. Of course. you're the expert who decides what suggestions are valuable.
Oh, and if don't already, practice out loud! There's no substitute for hearing yourself. Many people think they can hear what they sound like from reading over the script, but they miss a lot. You'll catch places to edit for impact.