Dear siblings in Christ,
You have probably noticed that several times per year, we have lay congregants preach on a Sunday morning. Some have participated in preaching workshops we have hosted in the past, some have participated in a training program our diocese provides called Preaching Among Friends, some have prior experience, some are in the process of discerning ordination, and some are people who are comfortable discerning what the Spirit might be saying through the scriptures, and delivering that to us in an engaging way.
This happens throughout the year, but our lay congregants tend to preach more frequently in the summer months. Last Sunday (July 6) Jon Crawford preached, and in the coming weeks we will hear from Andrea Reinhardt (July 13), Mallory Ruark, who we have been sponsoring for ordination (July 27), Kate Bacon, who is at the beginning stages of discerning ordination (August 10), and Alissa Birkel (August 31).
I wanted to share some of the reasons we cultivate and encourage lay preaching at The Table.
Living out the baptismal covenant
The Episcopal Church teaches that all baptized persons are ministers of the Church (BCP, p. 855). Ministry is not confined to the ordained, but shared among all the faithful, and we all commit “to proclaim by word and example the Good News of God in Christ.” (BCP, p. 305).
Enriching the church with diverse voices
Lay preachers bring a wider range of experiences, perspectives, and identities into the pulpit, which can illuminate the scriptures in fresh, accessible ways.
Deepening spiritual engagement
Anyone preparing to preach must engage deeply with scripture, prayer, and personal reflection. Even if they preach only once, the experience of deep engagement with God’s word enriches the way they hear scripture as part of Sunday worship in the future as they wonder what they might say if they had to discern a word from the Spirit out of a text.
While we can’t give everyone the experience of preaching (and there are also good reasons for most of the preaching to be done by those fully trained to do it), the practice of lay preaching will continue to be part of our life together.
Please keep our five lay preachers in your prayers and look forward to hearing the good news proclaimed from some different perspectives in the Sundays ahead!
Grace and peace,
Fr. Ben
