This summer, I was asked to write an article on sermon preparation for workingpreacher.com, an online resource for working preachers from Luther Seminary. The request came in response to a workshop I, along with my Fleshpots of Egypt buddies Jeff and Steve, participated in at the request of our fearless leader, Rolf Jacobson, during the 2024 Festival of Homiletics in May. Apparently what I said struck a chord.
As I was thinking about this monthly newsletter message, it dawned upon me that the premise that drove the preaching article is also applicable to our congregational life together. What’s more, it also captures a primary thrust of my ongoing doctoral explorations at Iliff School of Theology in Denver:
“One of my favorite singer/songwriters is Nancy Griffith, who died unexpectedly in 2021. She sang with a bell-like tone and a wry Texas drawl while her fingers danced over the strings of her guitar with joy and longing. The songs she wrote were drawn deeply from a life of wonder and worry, tragedy and hope.
Yet Griffith’s greatest critical success came from a 1993 album entitled Other Voices | Other Rooms, a collection of songs written by others who had influenced her own songwriting and style.
Cultivating a posture of communal listening. What if we approached everything we do by listening deeply and fully to the voices of those from other rooms, other experiences, and other traditions? What if we adopted ongoing practices of listening deeply to God, with and through others, as a central part of our spiritual life together? How might broader practices of listening discernment enhance our experience of church together?”
As we exit the scatteredness of Summer and settle into the program year, we have an opportunity to do just that. This coming Sunday we’ll welcome Pastor Mike Peterson from Lakeview Lutheran (our neighbor to the north) to adult education to hear about the looming threat of Christian Nationalism. On Sunday, Sept. 22, adult education will shift to a five week series where we’ll hear more about what it means to be Created to Be (the theme of the this Summer’s National Youth Gathering) from the speakers who actually spoke and taught in New Orleans. We just might also hear more from our confirmation students.
What’s more, my Fall class at Iliff is going to provide an opportunity to think more deeply about ways in which we, as communities of faith, can listen to those other voices and other rooms. If you are interested in perhaps participating in a group connected to that work, please let me know. At this point, I don’t know what that might look like or entail, but oftentimes the best way to start is with an open invitation. Consider this yours.
Pax,
Pastor Scott