|
Preaching for All Ages
Rev. Traci Smith
Do you know the joke about the perfect pastor? It goes something like this, “The perfect pastor preaches exactly 10 minutes. The perfect pastor condemns sin roundly but never hurts anyone's feelings. The perfect pastor works from 8 AM until midnight and is also the church janitor. The perfect pastor is 29 years old and has 40 years experience.The perfect pastor has a burning desire to work with teenagers, and spends most of their time with the senior citizens.” The point is not hard to miss: pastors are often given very unrealistic expectations. As another saying goes: you can please all of the people some of the time and some of the people all of the time, but you can never please all of the people all of the time. It’s so true.
There is no place where unrealistic expectations are more evident than the preaching moment. Preachers are expected to preach sufficiently long, but not too long. We’re expected to inspire, but also challenge. We must be entertaining, but also reverent. We should be scholarly, but also accessible. It’s a tall order.
It’s with this knowledge (that preaching is already a challenging task with lots of expectations) that I’d like to offer a few thoughts about preaching to people of all ages. What’s the age of the person you’ve got in mind when you’re composing and delivering your message? If you’re like most preachers, you preach to someone who is, as one of my homiletics professors once said, the “generic adult.” It’s someone of working age. Not too old, not too young. The problem with preaching to the generic adult is that a lot of people are overlooked week after week, particularly those who fall on either end of the age range (young people and senior citizens.)
How can we preach in ways that are meaningful for folks of all ages? This is a worthy pursuit. My colleague and friend, Dr. Dave Csinos, professor of homiletics at Atlantic School of Theology in Halifax, Nova Scotia tackles this question in his brilliant book A Gospel for All Ages. In it, Dave offers a comprehensive guide to preaching intergenerationally, using examples from practitioners who have done this well. For anyone who is interested in experimenting with preaching in ways that resonate with congregants of all ages, I can’t recommend A Gospel for All Ages enough.
Additionally, here are three practical tips for preaching meaningful sermons to all ages.
First, focus on storytelling. Storytelling is a valuable tool because it’s like art: everyone can see something different. Young listeners can focus on the basics of the stories, while older listeners might capture nuance or deeper levels. Trust your stories to do the work for you.
Second, include interactive elements in your sermons. From sensory engagement (smelling what frankincense smelled like while preaching on the magi, for example) to journaling or conversations, offering opportunities for folks to stay engaged on multiple levels is a great way to experiment with all ages preaching.
Finally, experiment with new examples designed to reach folks of an age group you don’t normally feature in your sermon. One practical and simple thing I started to do a few years ago was to simply add “or school” anytime I mentioned work.
Preaching for all ages is, no doubt, a huge challenge. But the rewards are great. Intergenerational preaching helps foster community and helps folks of all ages to feel at home. Remember: perfection isn’t the goal, connection and engagement are. Start with small experiments and changes in your preaching, and go from there.
Many blessings to you as you preach for all ages!
| 
