Stephen Chapin Garner

I don't plan to do a sermon exactly how Garner describes here, but there are some helpful and interesting tips, and some creative ways of engaging the homiletic form.

(original review from February 13, 2012)

Here is an example of my appreciation of a book increasing on a second read. I am doing one of my rare forays into first-person narrative preaching this Sunday and I thought I would look back at Garner and see what is helpful here and found quite a bit of good advice on how to choose a character and deliver a sermon in a winsome manner. The results may not be stellar but I don't blame him.

My first read through was a few years ago (the last time I did a sermon like this). I think I took what I could but thought a regular diet of these types of sermons seemed a bit gimmicky. I still think that and Garner agrees. This is a change-up pitch sort of sermon. A curve-ball.… (mais)

Chapin Garner’s Scattering Seeds presents the reader with an insight on how to form a church to the needs of the community. Garner tells the story of his entry into ministry, especially of his early days at the UCC in Norwell, to exemplify how the pastor should interact with the congregation so that the two complement one another and develop an effective ministry. More than anything else, Garner looks at how the Holy Spirit works with, and in-spite of, our ministerial actions.

Garner discusses his entry into mainline Christianity at a time when he was told that mainline Christianity was dying out. The dean of his seminary claimed that he and his fellow seminarians would “go on to be the CEO of a failing corporation.” At first the author looked to the mega-church model that seemed successful in so many places. Over time however he discovered that the mega-church was not the only path to church success. At UCC Norwell he began a ministry that focused on preparing the church for a post-clergy era, and found that the Holy Spirit was working to build his congregation and ensure that there would not be a post-clergy era in the near future.… (mais)

In Scattering Seeds: Cultivating Church Vitality, Stephen Chapin Garner and Jerry Thornell share the story of their home congregation, the United Church of Christ in Norwell, MA. This average congregation has approached congregational life in a not-so-average way. Each congregant is seen as a minister, bringing the good news of Christ to the community; the church has moved away from boards and committees, instead utilizing the people to form ministry teams; and they have revitalized the way they approach and practice worship and education. Garner and Thornell don’t claim to have the secret to church growth and vitality, but in sharing the story of their simple church in New England, they give hope and innovative ideas to congregations in regions all over the country.… (mais)