The Rev. Dr. Elizabeth Kaeton at her blog Telling Secrets, challenges herself to preach without a text or notes in Preaching from the Heart:
I’ve tried it, from time to time, over the years. But, I’ve really been attempting serious application of this theory on Sunday and major holidays.
Here’s some of the things I’ve learned:
First, this is not as easy as it looks. Seriously.
And, let me tell you from first hand experience, it’s not for sissies. …
I was … taught that one ought to strive to make The Breaking Open of The Word no longer than The Breaking Open of The Bread. So, 10-15 minutes tops. Which is – generally (ahem) – no problem, if one is reading from a manuscript and reading the Eucharistic Prayer from the BCP. However, if one is “preaching from a prepared heart”, the almost irresistible seduction in hearing the sound of one’s own voice and connecting visually with the eyes and faces of others is to . . . well, to put it kindly . . . wander….
It takes preparation of study and paying attention to what is happening for the congregation and focus during the preaching of the sermon. Read more about the challenge and breathtaking experience of preaching without a manuscript here.
Without a Net: Preaching in the Paperless Pulpit by William Shepherd is another resource.
“Pieter Brueghel the Younger Preaching” by Pieter Brueghel the Younger -Licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons
posted by Ann Fontaine