How sermon whisperers' feedback happens
You’ve agreed to serve as a congregational Sermon Whisperer for your preacher in this year’s cohort of the Iowa Preachers Project. This is how it happens.
The Iowa Preachers Project offers Preaching Fellows resources for building connections within their congregations that support your preaching and nurture members’ appreciation of the preached Word. The structure laid out here is a suggestion. Use it as is or adapt it or ignore it. As always with participation in the Project, it’s intended as a gift rather than a burden. You’re free to make it work for you.
The goal.
Along with gaining valuable feedback from sermon hearers, build a cadre of congregational members who connect monthly and who come to understand the importance of preaching and gain language to talk about what makes for faithful and effective proclamation of the Gospel. By the end of the program year we hope you will have gained a set of advocates for your preaching who also regard themselves as faith influencers and stewards of God’s Word in your congregation.
The pattern.
The Iowa Preachers Project Preaching Fellows will each assemble a team of Sermon Whisperers to give them feedback on their experience and to learn more about what God is up to in preaching. In monthly meetings between October and May they'll talk about a specific sermon and discuss an aspect of preaching. They'll watch videos to help them learn more and complete a monthly feedback form.
How to Listen to a Sermon videos.
We've developed a series of videos to help congregational Sermon Whisperer groups learn about the various aspects of preaching. There are a few introductory videos as well as a sermon for each month's topic.
October: Introduction to Preaching
What Qualifies You to Give Feedback on a Sermon?
November: Delivery
Video
Feedback form
December: Faithfulness to Scripture
Video
Feedback form
January: Structure and Rhetoric
Video
Feedback form
February: Illustrations
Video
Feedback form
March: Language
Video
Feedback form
April: Theology
Video
Feedback form
Pray.
Please keep your Preaching Fellow in your prayers. Ask God to give them faith, strength, hope, and wisdom as they mine God’s Word and produce something old and reliable to say in a new way. It is fair game to ask your Preaching Fellow if there are specific things they’d like you to pray for.
Contacts.
Joshua Retterer serves as the coordinator for our congregational sermon feedback. He will help you stay on track. If you and your Preaching Fellow face any glitches, have your preacher contact Josh with questions or concerns In addition, you can always contact Ken Sundet Jones, the Project director.
