Preaching Improv

Written on April 2, 2007 in art, thought

I watched an interview of Gordon Downey of The Tragically Hip. I forget where it was. Probably MuchMusic. Anyway, I was impressed with his attempts to sing songs totally improv. He might start with a prepared line, but take it extemporaneously after that. And I love the Hip! See them last night on the Junos? As LAME as the show was, the live acts were great.The reason Downey’s improv approach impressed me was because I’ve been trying the same thing when I teach on Sunday mornings. My approach is that instead of trying to prepare a speech to hand to the observers Sunday morning like a glass of water, I continually replenish my own well and then speak out of the abundance or sparsity of my own reserves. It can be so scary to stand up, read a verse or so, then lay myself open to the people and speak what comes to my mind. It requires a calm confidence, a kind of relaxed repose, to pull it off.

Some Sundays it seems to be fine. Some Sundays it sucks. The difference is not the quantity of water in my own well (because I do try to keep it full), but my insecurity, desire to please, fear of rejection, or even physical health. Anything can affect it. Like yesterday, I could feel that I wasn’t in touch with myself. It didn’t work as well. But, instead of standing up with a prepared speech that the passive audience sits under, I talked and allowed people to interject, question, comment, and even disagree. It is quite interactive and dynamic. Even if I am “off” and the talk sucks, it is still real, human, and involves the whole community. I prefer improv.

The fine art photograph is the creation of my friend Mark Hemmings, and is from his “Mannequin” series.

http://www.dream.uk.net richard

I love preaching and reckon I’m pretty good at it… like all preacher do… except the others are mostly wrong but I have an occassionally recurring nightmare that I stand up to preach without having had any time to ‘prepare’. It’s far scarier than the one of standing up to preach with no pants on (btw “pants” in the UK = underpants!)

So this post scares me – but in a good way.
Wondering now if I need to live the nightmare – at least once!
John

Whatever the floats the boat!
robin

I love your honesty in this post. I’m also loving tracks 2 and 10 on the Hip’s new album! Cheers…
http://www.brianmpei.wordpress Brianmpei

Preaching without a net. Nice.
http://www.dorseymarshall.com dorsey

Dude, if I lived near you, I would soooo want to be part of your community (if you’d be stupid enough to let me in. I’m sure I’d f*ck the whole thing up.).
Ellen

All the better, dorsey! We’re all f*cked up and not afraid to say so. Come for a visit!
Scott

I love the idea of improv preaching. I can understand an earlier post even more in which you described one Sunday in which many recieved a lot of unconditional love they needed. I imagine, in my mind, a topic or conern was brought up and as your community addressed it together that the Lord was able to work, move, and heal all who were there to share in the moment. Too many times in many churches, you will only hear the serman addressing an event or need in the body if it happened before Tuesday so that the pastor has time to prepare a nice 30 minute sermon on it.
John

Then maybe we should start a new show for TV. Instead of Last Comic Standing, how about “Last Preacher Standing”. Then we would judge those who are the best at improv, which is an indication of the Holy Spirits moving…… hmmm, or could it be that someone is gifted with the gift of “gab”? Just a thought.
http://nakedpastor.com nakedpastor

I don’t preach improv because it is just my style. I do it because I think it is the BEST way! It is more real and human than a prepared speech. It frees everything up so that the “preaching time” can actually be a shared, interactive and humane event in the life of the church. I don’t have the gift of gab, nor do I attribute any success to the Holy Spirit or lack of success to the Spirit’s absence. One of my primary motives for doing anything in the church community is for everything to be free, human, and real.
John

You live in black and white. Just because it works for you, doesnt mean that anything prepared is not real, free, genuine or human. What IS best is the truth coming to light in ones life. The ways and means of that happening varies. To say one is best, is to paint oneself in a corner.
http://nakedpastor.com nakedpastor

Improv is the best way because Jesus did it, and so does God
John

Ahhhh…when all else fails…..one uses the “spiritual ace” in the pocket. How can I argue that? Nice one! You win the pot!
http://nakedpastor.com nakedpastor

Barth wrote somewhere, I think in his small book on Homiletics, that he felt in the future that preaching had to turn away from being a prepared speech event to a more community event with discussion, because the days of a professional authority feeding people what he thinks they need to know are over. Truth is not the possession of one person. Truth is discovered and shared in community, and the improv model with interaction I think is the best way to practice this.
John

So is this the model you will use from now on? Will this be the form you will hold to when you are teaching outside the Sunday structure? I still think it was a spiritual ace!
http://nakedpastor.com nakedpastor

Well, maybe I shouldn’t call it a model. It is how I would like to speak at all times. yes. Spiritual ace? I was kidding about Jesus and God, even though it’s true.
http://www.dorseymarshall.com dorsey

Barth wrote a small book?