I was quoted by Mya Jaradet in this Deseret News article about what pastors should do about differing political opinions within their congregations. The executive summary: don’t worry too much about it!

While many pastors avoid tackling a partisan divide head on for fear of exacerbating tensions, others say that such tensions should be expected and can be opportunities to teach Christian principles loving those you disagree with and finding common ground.

“I remember being in a conversation about the political divide a couple of years ago,” said the Rev. Dr. William Willimon, professor of the practice of christian ministry at Duke Divinity School and a retired United Methodist Church bishop, “and someone saying, ‘If you say that your church is unified then you haven’t done a very good job of evangelism — all you’ve done is collect people with politics in common and what you need is people who have God in common.’”

You can read the rest of the excellent piece here.

Preachers Dare is a book that grew out of the Beecher Lectures I was scheduled to give this fall at Yale Divinity School. Drawing on my decades of preaching thousands of sermons, it’s a theology of preaching that begins at Barth’s maxim Deus Dixit, God speaks. For the next couple weeks, I’ll be running a series of excerpts selected by my minion Carsten Bryant, a recent Duke Divinity grad and Methodist preacher. Here’s the third on the freedom of submission to the Word:

I’m sure that’s the reason many preachers testify that they are less constrained while preaching than in any other act of ministry. Burdened by demands that they have a properly pastoral and emotional disposition, in the pulpit they are free to enjoy the sheer objectivity of Scripture, the way Christ comes to us rather than arises out of us. Carefree, assured that God will say what God wills, to whom God wills, as God wills, regardless of the fragility of preachers or listeners, they are free calmly to say to the congregation, “Having hung the drapes in the parsonage, this is not necessarily what I would have chosen to say to you but I do think it’s what the text says. It’s my God-given responsibility to say it to you as best I can.” That women preachers were recognized and affirmed first in Pentecostal churches shows that “God’s Spirit blows wherever it wishes” (John 3:8), descending upon, authorizing, and working through women in the pulpit, listeners ready or not.

(p. 70-71)

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Interested? I recorded this promotional video to introduce what I’m up to in Preachers Dare:

Rick Lischer and I talked tonight about what possibilities open up for Advent sermons this year. After reflecting on what makes Advent distinctive, we considered some of the lectionary texts, watched and critiqued a portion of a sermon I gave during Advent at Edenton St UMC last year, and took some questions. You can watch the conversation on YouTube.

This evening (11/18 @ 7pm EST), my longtime colleague Richard Lischer and I will host a Zoom conversation about preaching during Advent in this mixed-up, messed-up year of 2020 and all of the opportunities and challenges associated therewith.

You can register here.

My “Telling the Good News” webinar with Paraclete Press is today, starting at 9:00AM EST and finishing this afternoon at 3:00PM.

It’s not too late to sign up for my Telling the Good News webinar with Paraclete Press! The event is this Friday November 13 from 9:00AM to 3:00PM EST. If you sign up with a group of five or more people, there’s a 30% group discount available.

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In conjunction with Paraclete Press’ upcoming republication of my early book The Gospel for the Person Who Has Everything, I’m hosting a webinar with them called Telling the Good News, talking about why the Gospel is good news, who needs to hear it, and how to get it to them.

The webinar will run from 9:00AM to 3:00PM EST on Friday, November 13. For more information, see their Eventbrite, and contact Rachel McKendree at rachelm@paracletepress.com. I look forward to seeing you there.

-Will

Preachers Dare is a book that grew out of the Beecher Lectures I was scheduled to give this fall at Yale Divinity School. Drawing on my decades of preaching thousands of sermons, it’s a theology of preaching that begins at Barth’s maxim Deus Dixit, God speaks. For the next couple weeks, I’ll be running a series of excerpts selected by my minion Carsten Bryant, a recent Duke Divinity grad and Methodist preacher. Here’s the second on the wildness of revelation:

When we preach Christ, we refute Feuerbach’s charge that when Christians say “God,” we are projecting our pietistic feelings about God, naming our dreams and feelings “God.” Really, Feuerbach, if we were merely casting our desires out into the cosmos and calling the echo “God,” would we have come up with Jesus as Son of God? Would we have devised poor old dilapidated church as Christ’s presence in the world? We are capable of projecting gods easier to get along with than the Trinity, I assure you. Revelation is an event whereby God lifts the veil and enables us to discern and then to speak about God.

(p. 18)

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Interested? I recorded this promotional video to introduce what I’m up to in Preachers Dare:

My longtime colleague Richard Lischer, professor emeritus of preaching at Duke Divinity School, and I are hosting a Zoom webinar November 18th at 7pm on the particular challenges and opportunities associated with preaching during Advent this year. We’ll consider examples and take questions. You can register for it here at this link. The Zoom room is capped at 300, so register soon!

Back in September, I led a webinar for Duke Divinity School’s Convocation and Pastors’ School based on my book last year Leading with the Sermon.

That video is now available on Duke’s Warpwire.

Prayer of Confession for Trump Enabling Pastors

Dear Fellow Evangelical Pastors:

As increasing numbers of Trump’s buddies jump his sinking ship, I’m sure that his evangelical allies are afflicted with buyer’s remorse.  Even though many of you are in churches that don’t have prayers of corporate confession, we all know that confession is good for the soul, that you are all busy people with mega congregations, and that it may be as hard for you as it is for Trump to admit to wrongdoing. I offer this efficient means of making your belated–but I’m sure still graciously welcomed by our Lord–admission of sin.

Dear Lord:

Even though, as you well know, The Donald has rarely attended a church, knows little of the Christian faith, and brags that he will never, ever confess or even apologize for his sin, I

(check one or more)

•  confess 
•  bewail 
•  decry 
•  regret
•  am embarrassed by
•  sort of feel guilty
•  wish I hadn’t got caught

I disregarded minimal standards of Christian belief and behavior and, in a four-year lapse of good judgment, and in reckless disregard for the spiritual health of my flock, supported and defended Donald Trump.  

There, I’ve said it.  Please don’t make me say it twice.

And Lord, though I’m sure you know there’s no excuse for me–a Bible-believing Evangelical — to consort with a lying, misogynistic, racist clown like Trump, I humbly submit for your gracious consideration my trumped-up excuses:  

I (check any that apply)

•  have a bad drinking problem.
• was intimidated by all the Trumpers in my congregation
•  did not attend a seminary where the Ten Commandments were stressed
•  feel some of the same things Trump feels for Putin and Kim Jong Un
•  possess an AK-47 (but only use it as self-defense from my congregation)
•  believe that our Lord made too big a deal out of serial adultery
•  feel the same way as Trump about tax collectors 
•  like Trump, made a few mistakes, assaulted a few women, and stiffed some creditors in my twenties ( ), thirties ( ), forties ( ), fifties  ( ), sixties ( ), seventies ( )
•  Would, like Franklyn Graham, say or do anything, and sacrifice any principle for an invite to a fancy dinner at the White House
•  am on my third marriage too

Therefore, I promise to cease making dumb statements like

(check any that apply)

•  “Lincoln lied too” 
•  “Bone spurs are no joke”
•  “Our Lord had a soft heart for prostitutes too”
•  “Though there’s no evidence for it, maybe he’s changed”
•  “Abortion, while not mentioned in Scripture, is the only sin that’s actually a real sin”
•  “My children are not the brightest candles in the box either.”
•  “Lots of people in the military were suckers and losers.”
•  “It’s not a lie if you think it’s not.”

Lord, if you can forgive some of the stuff I did as a teenager (remember, that was before I got saved), if you could forgive a thief on the cross (who, for all I know, stole more than my former political hero), then surely you can forgive me for my political indiscretions. I’ll admit I’m not the best person in the world, and you know I have my faults, but, Lord, at least I’m not as bad as Trump. Please keep that in mind when separating sheep from goats.

Your faithful servant,

___________________________________________________________

Christian Name Date