San Diego Union-Tribune (Sunday)
What does it take to write the perfect sermon?
Three San Diego faith leaders share their thoughts on how they craft the right message
Marriages. Funerals. Counseling. The annual budget. Faith leaders undertake many responsibilities, but nothing compares to writing and presenting a sermon. It’s a task that demands more than the ability to interpret scripture and deliver a convincing message.
The ultimate goal is to interpret the word of God in a way that changes lives.
The effort involves hours of contemplation, writing and editing. And the word count must translate to a time frame that fits into the length of the religious service.
Father Cávana Wallace is a Catholic priest currently serving St. Therese Parish in San Diego, but on July 1, he will begin pastoring the Church of St. Timothy in Escondido.
Born in Ireland and ordained a priest in the Diocese of San Diego in 1992, he said that writing a sermon is “a work of prayer” that attempts to “capture the infinite.”
“I first ask the Holy Spirit for help,” Wallace said.
“I reflect on my ministry during the week and the ongoing events that surround us. I then read, reread and reflect on the Gospel passage selected for the upcoming Sunday. I begin to write not knowing how it’s going to turn out. I suppose it’s a bit like a master chef, giving attention to the ingredients, which enhance flavors, and to the overall presentation. But the overall goal is to point to an encounter and union with Christ.”
Terry Wayne Brooks, the senior pastor who serves one of the city’s largest Black congregations at Bayview Church of San Diego, will sometimes write a series of sermons based on a theme, such as mental health awareness or being fearless in faith.
He uses Bible software to assist him in finding references that correlate with his ideas.
“I’ll read and jot down notes on every passage and story,” said Brooks, who earned a master’s degree from Faith International University & Seminary in Tacoma, Wash.
“I have to go word by word with language, whether it is in Hebrew or Greek, so I understand what the passage means. Then, I’ll start to crossreference the scriptures with the theme of my series.”
Brooks said he is challenged by the fact that everything he studies has interest and value.
“But I don’t need to say everything I learned,” he explained.
“One of my preaching professors told me, ‘Give people a slice of cake, don’t give them the recipe.’ So, I have to keep that in mind. Every week there’s an editing process, and when I study it, the easier it becomes to articulate with less words.”
Senior Rabbi Jason Nevarez serves Congregation Beth Israel, the county’s oldest and largest synagogue. When he writes a sermon, he said that he sometimes reaches out to colleagues for feedback and that his best editor is his wife, “a wonderful writer.”
Nevarez, who was ordained by the Hebrew Union College-jewish Institute of Religion in New York and earned master’s degrees in Hebrew literature and religious education, also considers the time of year.
A weekly sermon can take hours to write, but significant religious events, such as Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur, demand more time.
“If we are in High Holy Days, I would be speaking to a large majority of the congregation and they are anticipating a message they can hold on to for the upcoming year,” said Nevarez.
“I’ll probably start thinking about that for two months before I start writing. I will research, sketch it out and go back and forth many times in order to make sure it’s impactful.”
Online impact
Though worshippers have returned to live services, maintaining an online presence has become an integral way for faith leaders to communicate.
Wallace posts sermons at printedaspreached.blogspot.com and Brooks has both an Instagram account (@twaynebrooks) and he’s on Facebook (@Terry Wayne Brooks).
Nevarez shares “A 21st Century Rabbi’s Musings” at rabbijnev.wordpress.com
Sermons have entered the realm of social media, and those carefully crafted words can be copied and pasted elsewhere. Sometimes, there is feedback.
When worshippers compliment Wallace, he considers it “a moment of grace” and believes that the “Holy Spirit is at work.”
Brooks welcomes the responses from the Bayview Church’s online Christian audience, which help him to shape future sermons.
“I get a chance to see people’s takeaways,” Brooks said.
“Somebody will say, ‘That’s powerful.’ I will highlight that statement, and consider it the next time I want to emphasize a point.”
In a divided world, posting commentary on the Internet calls for a heightened sense of discernment.
“Thousands of people can see (what I write),” Nevarez pointed out.
“I want to make sure it’s worthy of distribution. We have freedom of the pulpit, and that means we can say whatever we want to say. But I don’t talk about politics. It’s saturated into every day, so there is no reason to bring it into sacred time.”
Holy days ahead
Passover and Easter will occur in the coming days, events that inspire faith leaders to speak to the relevancy of ancient scripture in a way that resonates to modern times.
Brooks is a former athlete who “loves a challenge,” and he looks forward to writing the annual Easter sermon.
“I want to make sure that a story that is more than 2,000 years old, and one that everybody knows the ending to, relates to people’s lives,” Brooks said.
“The Bible is the living word, so it must speak to us as we live.”
At a Catholic Easter Mass, the resurrection of Jesus Christ is celebrated with a greater focus on ritual and scriptural readings.
“I am very much aware that Christ’s own death was his greatest sermon of love for both his own people and all humanity,” Wallace said.
“That’s maybe why during Holy Week, the Catholic tradition doesn’t lend itself to too much preaching. Instead, through ancient ritual, we enter the history of the chosen people and journey with Christ to Jerusalem and beyond.”
The Passover narrative commemorates the time when God used Moses to free the Israelites from slavery in Egypt. In Hebrew, Egypt is called Mitzrayim, derived from m’tzarim, meaning “narrow places.”
“It’s a metaphor for the narrowness that we create in our own minds, such as how we respond to the restrictions around COVID, or how our thinking about restrictions can limit our potential,” Nevarez explained.
“The Israelites were heading for the promised land, but they didn’t know that there would be 40 years of wandering in the wilderness. There was a lot to hold in at that time, and it speaks to the restrictiveness or narrowness we encounter in life and our potential for freedom. The timing of Passover, with the synergy of Holy Thursday, Friday and Easter Sunday, makes me think about the promise of our faith and our potential. What can we feed into our faith that will help us transcend challenging moments?”
“I’ll probably start thinking about that for two months before I start writing.”
Rabbi Jason Nevarez
“One of my preaching professors told me, ‘Give people a slice of cake, don’t give them the recipe.’ ”
Pastor Terry Wayne Brooks
“I first ask the Holy Spirit for help.”
Father Cávana Wallace