by Randy Ritz

In my last article, I asked you to go into the hallways and ask any parishioner if they remembered the sermon topic or content of last week’s message. I hope you tried that – it should be eye-opening. Talk, on its own, is not necessarily effective in getting the message across. We need to get our congregations into action so that the concepts taught are actively used. In essence, people begin to “own” the concepts.

This week, I thought I would give you some “active-learning” strategies that fit into the constraints of church auditoriums and service time limits. These are meant to be “springboard” ideas for you and your planning team. Substitute other themes, objects and grouping to fit new sermon topics. If you are wondering about how active participation helps retention, look back at last month’s article.

Physical metaphor

One great way to get your congregation to “physicalize,” or bring a concept to life, is to hand objects to each attendee as they enter the sanctuary. They hold these objects during the service and sermon. Just as teaching touches the mind of the congregation, the physical experience of holding an object reinforces the emotional part of the message. The use of both mind and heart cements the theme into the lives of your congregation. Here are a few examples:
           
On Good Friday, hand each person a 3 ½- or 4-inch spike as they enter. When the sermon turns to the sacrifice/death of our Lord Jesus, the spike becomes a physical expression or metaphor of His death. Allow members to meditate on the greatness of the sacrifice. The coldness of the steel spike reinforces the historical reality of the crucifixion and the spiritual truth of “His blood shed for us.” Avoid graphic description – the spike will bring the visceral experience home. Knowledge of your congregation will help you frame this message with sensitivity.
           
Plan a sermon on forgiveness or use this idea at the appropriate time in the church calendar. Use a rose as a metaphor for humanity’s potential for beauty and potential for hurting others. We all have our barbs. The rose makes physical the truth that we all hurt others at some time and therefore need to forgive and be forgiven. The beauty of the flower becomes a visual metaphor for how we blossom when we forgive and are forgiven. Hand the roses out to all adults or one to a family group (depending on budget).

Witnessing role-play

This is a bit daring and, at first glance, it seems like it might not work. But I encourage you to try it. When I was Director of Arts and Media at a large, urban church we tried this with splendid results.

When doing a sermon directed towards one-on-one evangelism, include a clear three- or four-step method on how to lead a non-believer to the Lord. You could use the four spiritual laws, Evangelism Explosion or others. Our pastor used John 3:16 because everyone knows it. The four steps were:

• God loved the world (but sin entered)
• He sent His only Son (to die)
• Whoever believes in Him will not die (a step of faith and forgiveness)
• Has eternal life (and abundant life)

During the latter part of the sermon, we stopped and had everyone get into pairs (encouraging married couples to make new pairs). Shifting around the room is encouraged. One person in the pair is the non-believer and the other is the witnessing Christian.

• Five minutes: Walk through a training experience of leading someone to the Lord. The “Christian” role-player improvises conversation and listens to the partner’s answers as they go through the four steps. Let the group know when they have one minute left and end all role-play at the same time (even if some are not finished).
• Two minutes: Encourage feedback between the two participants. What questions worked well? Was the believer perceived as friendly? Was the intent clear?
• Five minutes: Reverse partner roles and repeat the exercise – the believer now becomes the non-Christian and the other becomes the sharing partner.
• Two minutes: Debrief again.

This does three things for your congregation. It encourages members to relate to others, it equips your people to bring someone to the Lord and it creates authentic fellowship.

Praying and discussion groups

The pew barrier is one that locks most churches into linear and one-direction groups (we stare at the head of the person in front of us). During a sermon on praying, leave ten minutes to put the praying concepts into practice by actually praying for one another. Here is the key factor, however. Have the congregation make groups of fours (no more than six to a group). By choosing this number, you can break the pew barrier and begin to create conversation groups. You can actually suggest they look behind them to the next pew or connect with those in front of them.

The danger is that pastors preach on prayer and the need to support one another, but believers feel uncomfortable actually doing it. When the whole church is involved, the acceptance and follow-through levels go way up. 

Try using this grouping for discussion groups. I suggest that pastors ask an open-ended question during the middle of the sermon. Then stop. Form groups of four (breaking the pew barrier) and have the congregation discuss for five minutes. Then, continue on with the sermon. Try it . . . your parishioners will enjoy the shift in energy and get more from the sermon.

If you need further explanation or different ideas, please email info@clergycare.ca. Next month – “How You Practice is How You Perform.”

Dr. Randy Ritz is a passionate educator, actor and communication coach. He helps leaders use the power of narrative to transmit vision, values and history to others in an entertaining manner. He is currently head of drama at Concordia University College and can be found at Randyritz.com.