Next Sunday at the church is Scout Sunday. It's the Sunday when the troops our church sponsors come to join us in worship, function as liturgists, and (I think) tie knots as sacrament. Anyway...I'm a big fan of this. Not only do we honor and celebrate our church's long tradition with scouting, but we also get a chance to have worship with some new folks.I met with the Cub Scout and Boy Scout leaders last week and had a great time planning Scout Sunday. At the end of the conversation, though, one of the leaders threw in this comment: "A couple of years back, the preacher did an excellent job of keeping the kids' attention...in recent years, the sermon didn't do that as much. We'd really appreciate it if you could make it interesting for the kids."
Dangit.
Well...now that I'm starting to look deeper into next Sunday's texts, I can't help but wonder how they are going to "play to the 6-18 demographic." It's messing with my mind...and bringing me back to that great homiletical question: Do we really preach for the congregation or to the congregation? Or, simply put, do we give them exactly what they want? I remember what my preaching professor once said (paraphrase): "Give them what they need disguised as what they want."
I love that quote...but, frankly, it doesn't help much here. And Moses didn't play PlayStation 3...or, to my knowledge, skateboard. Or text message. Or listen to Justin Timberlake on his I-pod (although I need to check that one). And so I am left trying to decide how much to "stretch" to keep the young ones occupied.
One more thing...I'm trying to decide if it's freeing or depressing that I can only remember the vague details of about 3 sermons I heard in High School...all in the Senior year. (Sorry Terry.)
Anyway...I'll let you know how this goes as the week goes on...advice is always appreciated.
5 comments:
Well, I am not sure that I have great advice but the following are topics I brought up in recent sermons that received comments from the younger crowd.
1. Garth Brooks' song Unanswered Prayers. Whether it made the point I was trying to make or not I was told that it "kept my attention."
2. Football. If the quarterback is you then the congregation is your offensive line. It seemed to make a good point thought what I heard repeated back to me was - "if you want to be a strong Christian you need a strong offensive end."
3. The Princess Diaries movie (the first one). "I could be selfless like Mia. I just never thought of it that way."
I have been preaching a series from Philippians. All I have learned is that football, music and movies are the way to keep that age group interested. I hope that helps or at least gives you a chance to chuckle. :)
Excuse me, Cheyanna, but the Princess Diary movies have absolutely nothing to do with God. I was so bored on my flight back from New Zealand two years ago, that I watched the flight's complete lineup of movies, which consisted of:
"Wimbeldon"
"Princess Diaries 2"
"Catwoman"
...and one more. I can't remember what it was because, at that point, I had slipped into catatonic shock.
I remember PD2 specifically for the appearance of the evil added Cosby Child Olivia and wondering, for nearly and hour and half, "How much must they have paid Julie Andrews to do this movie?" So...unless I'm talking about the mark of the beast, I'm not touching those movies with a ten foot pole.
As for the rest...I'm going to see if I can incorporate your other two suggestions into this week's sermon (topic: how God lifts the lowly):
a) I'm playing "I've Got Friends In Low Places" for the Prelude.
b) The sermon will consist of a tape of Peyton Manning's previous playoff performances before finally winning the AFC Championship with a small subtitle: "Anything Can Happen." Followed by a short sermonette on how the lowly Bears will rip him limb from limb. I think that should work. ;)
Good comment on the music and movies, though...I have noticed that references to movies, especially, keeps our younger ones interested. I'm really struggling with the grade-schoolers, though.
As always, thanks for the suggestions.
Ouch Scott!! No wait.. you remembered THREE?? That's probably two more than I remember! But then I am just an old guy and your mind was so young and impressionable!
Your blogs are GREAT!(I'll see how many I can remember! ;-) ) keep up the good work!
In an attempt to frame your message in a more 'attention keeping' manner, perhaps you should consider one, if not all, of the following:
* Little People
* Groundhog's Day
* Shirts vs. Skins
* Mentioning you have a blog and they'll all be on it.
* Chimps
* Fireworks
* Party Favors
Beyond that, you're on your own, my man.
Good Luck,
Tim "lowly yet lifted" James
OK...well...I've got a service starting with Garth Brooks and incorporating Peyton Manning. Now, for Tim, I have planned on having a laser light show and fireworks spectacular for the Assurance of Pardon...and I am re-naming the sermon from "Anything Can Happen" to "Scotty's Super-Chimp-Tacular Fun Hour."
That oughta do it.
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