Uncommon Preaching: An Alternative to the Lectionary

There is a spiritual hunger in the world today. Many people are seeking answers to life's hard questions. Many people come to church seeking inspiration, help for personal problems, or faith's perspective on life. They come seeking things you cannot find in a search engine. The church has exactly what they need, but too often there is a gap between our message and our ability to send it. Each week, as people pause to learn about faith and get a word of hope, a lot rides on the sermon. Susan Cartmell took a journey across the country to visit churches with great preaching and lively worship. What she discovered was that Evangelical Christians and Unitarian Universalists were using themed preaching effectively to attract new members. Working in her church over the last five years, she has designed a new system for preaching with themes in mainline Protestant churches. She shares her method and her journey in a story that invites you to consider new ways to preach faithfully without using the lectionary.

Susan E. Cartmell is the Senior Minister of the Congregational Church of Needham, Massachusetts. One of the first women to lead a church this size, she has served as senior minister since 1998. She has written for Christian Century, Upper Room, and Lectionary Homiletics. You can learn more about her at her website www.UncommonPreacher.com.