LSTG 3.765Saying the M Word in the Pulpit

Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg

January 19-22, 2016

The Rev. Craig A. Satterlee, Ph.D.

North/West Lower Michigan Synod ELCA

2900 N. Waverly Rd. ● Lansing MI 48906 ● 517-321-5066

Email:

Note: My email correspondence is pithy, terse and succinct. I do not generally do well with email attachments and so do not accept/receive them for coursework.

At LTSG: Garden Apt. 101

Rationale

In the United States, Mammon or Money is a powerful force that seeks to reign even over Christ’s Church. “Saying the M Word in the Pulpit” celebrates giving money in response to an explicit proclamation of the Gospel as worship, participation in God’s own mission of reconciliation and resurrection, and active resistance to the powers of death at work in the world. Practical in nature, the seminar’s goal is to encourage and equip pastors to preach both the annual stewardship sermon and on the topic of money as it is found in Scripture.

Objectives

This course seeks to address five questions related to preaching about money and stewardship.

What is stewardship?
Why should people give to the church?
What does the Bible say?
Why is this so hard?
What else can we do?

Required Reading (To Be Completed Prior to the Start of Class)

Craig A. Satterlee, Preaching and Stewardship: Proclaiming God’s Invitation to Grow, The Alban Institute, Herndon, VA, 2011.

Mark Alan Powell, Giving to God: The Bible's Good News about Living a Generous Life, Eerdmans, 2006.

Recommended Reading

Charles R. Lane,Ask, Thank, Tell: Improving Stewardship Ministry in Your Congregation, Augsburg Fortress, 2006 OR a stewardship book of your choosing.

Instructor’s Assumptions in Planning this Course

As a teacher and preacher (and child of God for that matter) I have a unique voice that is both gifted and limited. My voice has been shaped by many factors including twenty-nine years of ordained ministry, academic work in homiletics and liturgy at the doctoral level, and teaching preaching for nineteen years. My voice cannot and does not include firsthand expertise of all worship, cultural and congregational contexts and styles of preaching.

Part of the gift/limit of my voice is that I am legally blind. I am highly attuned to oral communication and less attuned to visual/nonverbal communication. I assume that, for some of you, having a professor (teacher, scholar, ordained minister, someone who has power over you) who also manages a disability is a new experience. If you have questions or concerns, please speak to me.

I am also an ELCA bishop. This freaks some students out. We are learning together what it means for a seminary professor to be a bishop and a bishop to be a seminary professor. It is my practice not to vote on any candidacy committee and work hard to maintain the boundaries of my dual roles.

God through the church has called you to preach. You have a unique voice that is shaped by many factors, including your faith, culture, experience, and style of learning. Your voice, too, is both gifted and limited. Our task is to help you develop your voice by gaining confidence as well as competence.

This course is but a step on the continuing journey of becoming a proclaimer of Jesus Christ. Some among us have been on this journey for a while and therefore bring with them considerable experience; for others this journey is brand new. Yet, this single course must attempt to serve us all. It cannot answer every question, address every issue, and meet every need.

Preaching is the point of intersection between theology and practice, faith and life. It’s “where the rubber meets the road.” Preaching is also the chief responsibility of the pastor. We will therefore work hard in this course; we will also have fun.

Preaching cannot be separated from other areas of ministry. We will therefore inevitably find ourselves discussing topics and issues beyond preaching per se.

There are many appropriate ways of preaching. There are also some inappropriate ways of preaching. This course cannot teach all the appropriate ways of preaching. We will teach a framework that provides a foundation for them all. We will also strongly warn against inappropriate ways of preaching.

God speaks through a method of preaching. We are called to work as though preaching depends on us but to trust, because ultimately preaching depends upon God. A method of preaching enables us to do both. If you have completed a preaching course, I assume that you have a method of preaching. If you have not taken a preaching course and do not have a method, I assume you will ask for help.

Preaching requires balance--work and leisure, prayer and study, time together and time alone, time structured and time not.

My own experience, as well as that of the vast majority of the students I’ve taught, is that input from the instructor prior to preaching is as valuable (and probably more so) as evaluative feedback after preaching. Therefore, we use a step-by-step process. Emphasis is on preparation rather than review. If you learn better in a different way, please make an appointment to speak to me about how we can better help you to learn.

On the one hand, I approach this course as a seminar in that I assume leadership will be shared and that you are doing the assigned reading and research. On the other hand, inasmuch as evaluations indicate that participants want to hear from their instructors, several lectures are included as part of the course. I do not generally use class time to review assigned reading. If you have questions or concerns, or desire a different direction, please bring this desire to our attention.

I assume that you will let me know how things are going, both in this class and elsewhere if they are impacting this class.

Strategies

Prayfor our class, for your preaching, for your colleagues, and for the instructor.

Other assignments, in addition to those listed below, may be required.

Pre-Work (To be completed prior to the start of the course)

Read the assigned books and articles. Satterlee is the primary text. Other readings serve as background.

Decide on your one word definition of stewardship and be prepared to explain why you chose it.

Download lecture outlines from Available January 1, 2016. Go to the Preach Page. Password is $tewardship

Using Satterlee, Chapter 7, write a 2-4-page reflection paper on the power that money holds in your life and the life of your congregation. The goal here is the writing of the paper. Papers will not be collected; however, they will serve as ”fodder” for our conversation.

Interview a Pastor: Bring one well-thought-out piece of a stewardship campaign that you could use in your congregation come fall.

Class Work (To be completed during the course)

Attendance at all class sessions is expected.

Participation in discussion that reflects careful and timely reading and comprehension, completed assignments, and involvement in a collegial (gentle yet honest) analysis of the sermons preached in class.

Preach a sermon about money: Task: Be bold. This can either be an annual stewardship sermon or a sermon about money.

Recommended

Journal keeping. A preaching journal is often helpful in charting development of insights for both sermon preparation and for the reflection paper.

Partners in Preaching. Partner with someone for support/encouragement/help

Assessment

A grade of C or better is required to pass the course. Grades are a highly compressed way of relating actual performance to established criteria. Grades are not a means of measuring rank in relation to other students. Grades do not reflect your value as a human being or child of God; they are not an indication of how I understand or value you. Grades do not necessarily reflect your long-term potential as a preacher. Grades must always be understood in light of more extensive written and oral comments.

Grading in this course takes into account what has been assigned (tasks), reasoning and substance (content), and matters of style and expression (form). Generally speaking, letter grades represent the following evaluation:

Exceptional in most or all ways. Such work completes all tasks, is creative and even original in content, and displays mastery of expression.

Exceptional in some ways. One part of assignment is slighted, reasoning has some minor weaknesses, and the work is not completely clear in form.

Adequate (and only that) in all ways. More than one task is slighted, the content is more often problematic, and expression is competent yet not compelling.

Inadequate in some ways. Fails to address significant tasks, showing weak or erroneous content, and expression that obstructs understanding.

Wholly inadequate. Ignores or misunderstands the assignment, contains major errors of substance, and is generally inept in expression.

In terms of sermons, preaching the Gospel as good news earns you a C. I consider myself a B+ preacher.

Incompletes and Extensions

Incompletes and extensions will be granted only in extraordinary and/or catastrophic circumstances. Ask yourself: Does this situation warrant my not preaching on Sunday? If it does, contact me and we will discuss it. I will not grant incompletes and extensions after the fact.

Outline and Content of the Course (Tentative: depending on class size!)

Tuesday, January 19
8:30-10:00 A.M. / Introduction to the Course and to One Another. What is your one word definition of stewardship and why?
10:00 A.M. / Break
10:15-11:30 A.M. / Satterlee Preaching Method Lecture
11:30 A.M. / Worship and Lunch
1:30-3::00 P.M. / Satterlee Overview Lecture
3:00 P.M. / Break
3:15-4:30 P.M. / What is stewardship? (Satterlee, pp. 10-19)
Wednesday, January 20
8:30-10:00 A.M. / Why should people give to the church? (Satterlee, Chapter 2)
10:00 A.M. / Break
10:15-11:30 A.M. / What Does the Bible Say—Why, How and How Much?
11:30 A.M. / Worship and Lunch
1:30-3::00 P.M. / What Does the Bible Say—Why, How and How Much?
3:00 P.M. / Break
3:15-4:30 P.M. / What Does the Bible Say—Why, How and How Much?
Thursday, January 21
8:30-10:00 A.M. / “Why is this so hard?” (Satterlee, Chapter 7)
Lecture and Conversation
10:00 A.M. / Break
10:15-11:30 A.M. / What else can we do? (Satterlee, Chapter 8)
11:30 A.M. / Worship and Lunch
1:30-4::00 P.M. / Sermon Preparation Workshop
Friday, January 22
8:30-8:45 A.M. / Prayer and Orientation
8:45-10:15 A.M. / Three Sermons and Review
10:15 A.M. / Break
10:30-11:30 A.M. / Three Sermons and Review

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