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BASKET SUMMARY

Being a Preacher: Reflections and Practical Advice on Speaking to be Heard

By Lucy Berry

Review by Carole Marsden, United Reformed Church Minister and Community Warden, Cliff College

Darton, Longman and Todd, 2024, £12.99

<strong>Being a Preacher: Reflections and Practical Advice on Speaking to be Heard</strong>

On the surface of it Being a Preacher is the book that every experienced preacher felt they would have appreciated at the start and felt they should have written once they’ve been preaching a while, but never quite got around to. Lucy Berry has taken the thought, time, consideration and done it, for preachers everywhere; for all those of us who never quite got around to it. As a result, Being a Preacher contains a lot! It contains a lot of lived experiences and practical suggestions, theological reflections and biblical challenges, pastoral considerations and formational suggestions.

It is accessible and dip-into-able. Its headings are clear and ordered. Formatted and presented as 65 two-page chapters, each with follow-up questions that would be valuable for personal reflection or group discussion.

Berry’s use of language is both simple in style and meaningful in content. Her poetic background and style evident as she strives to balance instruction with reflective practice.

Berry identifies some of the challenges that accompany the deep responsibility being a preacher brings. She states she wouldn’t expect everyone to agree with her on everything, recommending those portions that are least preferred should be the ones lingered on and returned to. Better to grappled and consider than to ignore.

The book moves from ‘Approaching your Preaching’ to ‘Approaching your Text’ before moving on to sections covering ‘Practicalities’, ‘Being the Visitor’ and ‘Love and Responsibility’.

One of the many questions asked is, Will you be liked? Berry reflects, ‘Pastors-in-charge, more than anyone, live in the tightrope-tension of popularity versus challenge. It is their job to prompt people to wonder, regularly and deeply, about the Jesus story alongside their own lives, and to explore the duty of the church to its community. To manage this, one needs to be like-able enough that people listen, but challenging enough that they grow.’

On many of the theological and practical issues presented in Being a Preacher this balancing act applies. Of saying enough but not too much, of speaking for long enough but not too long, of digging deep enough but not so deep you lose the listeners. To help aid these considerations and reflections Berry adds questions to each section which prompt further discussion and reflection. At the end of each there is one repeated question, ‘What prayer are you prompted to pray about this?’

This sense of seeking God to grow preaching skills within each called to the task lies at the root of this book. It makes it useful to many who strive to do it well whether just starting out or well into their preaching journey.

Her advice is that whether you’re an old hand or a beginner, this book is inviting you to consider the what, how, where, when and why of preaching. All to develop your own personal style and content, all for the glory of God and in service of the hearers.

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