What does the word 'preaching' bring to mind for you?
Today it is among the commonly-used concepts on our son's social media accounts, where it has little to do with Christianity. A strong expression of opinion by one of his teen friends is likely to be met with the rubber-stamp: 'Preach it!'
Most of his friends have never heard a sermon in their lives. But they will drop everything to run and watch the latest rap star perform at the O2.
In the 18th century, George Whitefield, co-founder of Methodism with John Wesley, got pop-star like receptions on his own rock-star style 'preaching tours'.
Here is one man describing Whitefield's performance in Connecticut: 'Now it pleased God to send Mr. Whitefield into this land; and my hearing of his preaching at Philadelphia, like one of the old apostles, and many thousands flocking to hear him preach the Gospel, and great numbers were converted to Christ... When I saw Mr. Whitefield come upon the scaffold he looked almost angelical, a young, slim slender youth before some thousands of people with a bold undaunted countenance, and my hearing how God was with him every where as he came along it solumnized my mind, and put me into a trembling fear before he began to preach; for he looked as if he was cloathed with authority from the Great God, and a sweet solemn solemnity sat upon his brow... then I was convinced of the doctrine of election and went right to quarrelling with God about it, because all that I could do would not save me; and he had decreed from eternity who should be saved and who not.'
Fast forward to the 20th century, and Ian Paisley stands out as one of the most memorable preachers. High in the firmament of greatness still, of course, is Billy Graham. There are many more. Dr Rowan Williams is at his best in the pulpit on occasions such as Greenbelt. He can keep crowds of thousands rapt for an hour or more, delivering an unforgettable experience of spiritual grace.
It's on my mind because of the national Sermon of the Year, now in its third year, and for the first time being featured on the BBC's 'The One Show'.' Preachers from around the UK are being encouraged to submit written sermons of no more than 1500 words on the subject 'Be Set Free' by Sunday 18 February, and then four finalists will preach their sermons in June in front of a panel of judges, a BBC camera crew and a live audience at London School of Theology whose principal Dr Calvin Samuel is hosting the competition.
Dr Samuel says: 'We're excited to be championing the art of sermon preaching. We hope to ignite a passion to share God's word effectively to the glory of God.'
Louisa Lockwood, editor of Preach magazine, which is also helping organise the event, says: 'Sermon of the Year continues to show us that preaching is alive and well and still one of the most powerful agents of transformation in the church.'
Last year's winner was Carole Hodgkins, a retired secondary school teacher, and she won with the first sermon she had ever preached, speaking about the death of her eldest daughter, who died at age 36 in 2000, on the theme of 'God in the Dark'.
So who are the great preachers of today for those who want to enter this competition to model themselves on? They can't all be Rowan Williams. In any case how do clergy actually manage to stand up in front of full, half-full or even nearly empty churches and deliver fresh, new sermons, week after week, during a lifetime of ministry?
It is distressing to have to confess that when thinking of style and bombast, Donald Trump comes to the fore as someone who knows how to deliver a singular, striking message. He uses all the traditional and modern tricks and twitts of rhetoric there are. For churchgoers such as myself, though, the type of sermon delivered by Whitefield, that strikes fear into the listener about the likelihood of their own salvation, is not what is wanted. Nor is the 'preach it' style of Trump, with its naked hostility to all agents of the press doing their best to report the truth. This is surely not what political or religious pulpits are for. It is significant perhaps that Rowan Williams is actually not on and never has been on Twitter.
If Trump had been born three centuries ago, would he have become a preacher instead of politician? And if Whitefield was alive today, might he even be in the White House? I'm not elevating Trump to the spiritual status of the great Whitefield of course. All they really have in common, besides the capacity for dedicated hard work, is the ability to attract massive amounts of attention to their message, from the entire world around.
And yet among the best sermons I hear today on a regular basis are the five or ten-minute homilies delivered by humble Catholic and Anglo-Catholic priests in parishes around the UK. These are men and women quietly going about God's work with little applause from the wider world, but delivering vital succour week after week to those they serve.
It would be wonderful if the growing success of Sermon of the Year helped restore the religious sermon to its central place in public – and private – life. It would be in line with the evangelistic mandate of the gospel. And it would surely be of help to the many thousands of people seeking spiritual guidance on a daily basis around the world. I wish this competition all the best and will pray for its success. Preach it, guys. Go preach it.
Ruth Gledhill is multi-media editor of The Tablet and editorial adviser at Christian Today. She is on Twitter @ruthiegledhill. She has preached occasional sermons, but they were not particularly good.
