14 Jan 2010
Church leaders call for renewed commitment to preaching
The United Reformed Church has joined the leaders of other denominations in calling for a renewed commitment to preaching.
General secretary the Revd Roberta Rominger said: “It really matters that those of us who preach put our heart and soul into it, to proclaim the Christian gospel and show its relevance for these challenging times.”
The call comes as the College of Preachers, an organisation which promotes excellence in preaching, launches a range of initiatives to mark its fiftieth anniversary. They include a "good preaching pledge" which has been signed by the Moderator of the General Assembly of the United Reformed Church, John Marsh and Roberta Rominger, as well as the Archbishops of Canterbury and Westminster.
Research published by the college on 18 January shows that while congregations look forward to sermons, preaching rarely has an effect on attitudes or behavior.
Some 62 per cent of respondents said that sermons gave them a sense of God’s love “frequently”, but only 17 per cent said preaching often changed the way they live. The research was carried out by CODEC, the research centre at St John’s College, Durham, in October and November 2009.
The college’s director Paul Johns said: “What the survey suggests is that too much preaching is doing too little to motivate people to look at the world differently and therefore live in it differently. If that’s so, we have to question what we preachers are actually saying about the Bible and about contemporary issues, and how well we’re engaging with our congregations.”
