How to improve your student minister's preaching!
Monday, October 9, 2006 at 7:14PM I, like my good friends Peter, and Pete, am responsible for shaping and moulding student preachers. Let me tell you that it is often amazing and exciting to hear wonderful, deep, challenging, and life changing messages coming from one's students! However, at other times it is quite painful listening to bad theology, poor delivery, and the same old message on love that has been preached in the chapel each year for the past 1000 years!
One of our students sent me the link below. I have decided to implement this method in trial services in the chapel. Watch the Shockwave Video and tell me whether you think it will improve the quality of preaching in the Chapel! Our preaching lecturer, Rev Sifiso Khuzwayo, just needs find a way to rig this into our pulpit and we're in business!
At least this time it will be the preacher, and not the congregation, that suffers if there is a terrible sermon!
Here's the Video: http://www.glumbert.com/media/tonguetwister.html
Reader Comments (7)
I think it is a wonderful idea. A perfect way to tell people that they are "not yet competent". Perhaps after JWC pilots this project the Education department could take a closer look.
What if we enjoy the slapping mechanism?
What about women ministers who deliver a bad sermon???
Women preaching!? Not in the Eastern Cape!
I've never heard a woman preach a bad sermon at OUR seminary! And, if they did, you could be sure that Dix would get a hold of them and beat the nonsense right out!
Gus, I know you love this kind of thing. You're a sucker for punishment! I could see you enjoying every painful moment of your Greek exam today!
Now, Kevin Needham (who was my supervisor of studies, and who inflicted much worse pain, by much more subtle means, on bad preachers) suggested that we should implement this device for SYNOD testimonies for Candidates for the ministry! Could you imagine the bliss!? No longer will we have to endure hour upon hour of cliched "I was born into a Methodist home, my grandmother's, father's, uncle's, second goat had a cousin that had a dream about a vision in which I was wearing a clerical shirt ... So, that means God wants me to be a minister".
It would be simple and entertaining. Those Candidates who cannot prove to us that they are called (in 30 seconds or less) will get 'the treatment'. Either way, we will enjoy it!
Well done!
Shoot - good or bad sermon, there is nothing that can't be improved by a good old slap in the nuts.
Like my Greek exam for instance...
Actually, that reminds me of an e-mail Dion once sent me...
Title: I love monkeys
I took my 200 monkeys home. I have a big car. I let one drive. His
name was Sigmund. He was retarded. In fact, none of them were really
bright. They kept punching themselves in their genitals. I laughed.
Then they punched my genitals. I stopped laughing.
Read the whole story here:
http://people.redhat.com/blizzard/monkeys.txt
Yup, the good old Monkey story..... I recall how it made me laugh. Oh, those were the good old days. How innocent we all were. Of course this story is not true! How could it be? What sane person would allow punching monkeys to drive his car!?
Of course it is a piece of literary genius! Best of all it is featured in Redhat Linux!
Hence, it is two of my favourite things - It is both funny and geeky.....
Read the story... You know you want to!