tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18902745.post6091454389849334857..comments2024-03-24T15:19:06.377-04:00Comments on The Continuum: First Sunday after the EpiphanyFr. Robert Harthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05892141425033196616noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18902745.post-22187488745329231922009-01-13T18:57:00.000-05:002009-01-13T18:57:00.000-05:00Just what I thought you would say. I just felt it...Just what I thought you would say. I just felt it needed to be said aloud.<BR/><BR/>edpoetreaderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11613032927883843078noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18902745.post-58003594879541807382009-01-13T18:10:00.000-05:002009-01-13T18:10:00.000-05:00Br. Ed,Indeed, I agree it's perfectly acceptable t...Br. Ed,<BR/><BR/>Indeed, I agree it's perfectly acceptable to preach a previously written sermon, whether your own or another's, so long as it is understood by all this is the case. <BR/><BR/>I was more pointing out how it's usually the lazy approach to what is supposed to be a pastoral AND prophetic enterprise. Truth and grace need to flow from the mountain top of the pulpit -- and oftentimes the pulpit is just a platform for personality cults and accolades. People will FLOCK to any man whose message is either essentially Pelagian or Antinomian, so long as it's entertaining and warming. Or, even if the theology is thoroughly orthodox on paper, it's drowned out by the inane pop-cultural trappings and ambience.<BR/><BR/>St. WormAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18902745.post-27741549747623399192009-01-13T16:59:00.000-05:002009-01-13T16:59:00.000-05:00O'm in almost total agreement with everything abov...O'm in almost total agreement with everything above, but would like to supplement it with an oibservation.<BR/><BR/>Sometimes one finds that someone has said just what one wants to vonvey, openly better than one would have. Perhaps in some of those situations real preaching might involve using such a previously written, or "canned" sermon, properly attributed, of course. Plagiarism is plagiarism only when another's work is passed off as one's own.<BR/><BR/>Then there is the special case of those (principally lay readers) who are not entitled actually to preach, but are allowed to transmit prevously approved preaching. I have a special interest in this as I've been preparing homilies for this kind of use.<BR/><BR/>Aside from these little points, everything said above is right and valuable.<BR/><BR/>edpoetreaderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11613032927883843078noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18902745.post-48929866738852137152009-01-13T14:28:00.000-05:002009-01-13T14:28:00.000-05:00Fr. Wells,Yes, my comment was a bit tongue-in-chee...Fr. Wells,<BR/><BR/>Yes, my comment was a bit tongue-in-cheek, as what's "fit" for popular consumption is usually determined by that fashionable witchcraft called church-growth "principles". It is true, however, that Fr. Hart's material is exceedingly fit for publication -- may not sell like "40 Days of Purpose" or "Purpose Driven Life" or some such muck, but I'd pay good money for such an anthology.<BR/><BR/>My own dear Father Brookshire's homilies are extremely print-worthy (and he freely quotes the likes of Thielicke! among many of the eminent Christian saints and doctors of whom this world is unworthy) -- but he just can't compete with our ADD/ADHD culture's penchant for polish, bright colors, and no edges. <BR/><BR/>I agree with you about the plagiarizing. What *do* they teach in homiletics nowadays? <BR/><BR/>Just a side note: I've had it up to here with the 30/40-something "hip" pastor preaching style you see nauseatingly reproduced in the "Calvary Chapel" mega-church auditoriums. No matter the tradition (Pentecostal, Reformed, Lutheran, Episcopalian, Catholic), you'll find such a style overriding any real preaching skill. You feel like you just sat through a self-help seminar instead of hearing something prophetic. <BR/><BR/>My dear wife, who is a Jewess recently converted to the faith (scheduled to be admitted to the sacrament of holy baptism this Easter), simply responded with an "Are you kidding me?" after listening for the first time to one of these mega-church sermons. Here is a woman who knew relatively little of church life until these past 3 years, that could spot phony/shallow preaching from a mile away. That spoke volumes to me. "From the mouth of babes." :)<BR/><BR/>In Pax Christi,<BR/>St. WormAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18902745.post-73186138775408526642009-01-13T13:14:00.000-05:002009-01-13T13:14:00.000-05:00St. Worm: I share your appreciation of Fr Hart's ...St. Worm: I share your appreciation of Fr Hart's splendid homilies. (For me the terms sermon and homily are interchangeable.) But, even if they will not compete with the kind of junk you allude to, they are worthy of publication. Think of the sermons of Helmut Thielicke, Karl Barth, T.F.Torrance, or the less known Howard Hageman.<BR/><BR/>There is a special place in hell for those who plagiarize sermons, or who who used "canned" sermons--the internet, I hear, is full of this kind rubbish. But a large part of my homiletical training was reading and critiquing<BR/>published sermons.<BR/>LKWAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18902745.post-21704408923024058542009-01-13T09:26:00.000-05:002009-01-13T09:26:00.000-05:00Dearest Fr. Hart,I know not every sermon requires ...Dearest Fr. Hart,<BR/><BR/>I know not every sermon requires a comment -- they speak for themselves quite plainly, but I am simply astounded how succinct and effective these sermons are. <BR/><BR/>Years ago I worked for a "Christian" book store, and recall looking through published pre-fabricated sermons for pastors who can't get off their lazy arses (sorry, sounds harsh, but so true), and remember just cringing at each sermonette. Books not fit for burning.<BR/><BR/>Conversely, I'm sorry to say your sermons would never be fit for popular publication -- but they will certainly endure amid people who are hungry to hear the Word of God in this desert. They simply confirm the great Anglican preaching tradition because of our patrimony's high view of God's Holy Word.<BR/><BR/>Again, Father, thank you!<BR/><BR/>St. WormAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com