The Elephant in the Room

I want to talk about the elephant in the room. There’s more than one here, but one that has not received any attention. That is, preaching in the Episcopal Church. The determination to not have a sermon (per the President-Elect’s request) has less to do with politics than what we (the Episcopal Church) think about preaching and our worship services. People have said that we have missed the opportunity to have a ‘prophetic voice’ at the service, but I wonder if we would be saying that if Sec. Clinton had won and requested the same boon?

The issue for us is that many in our church believe the sermon is expendable; it’s just not that important. There are exceptions, like the Advent, that believe that the proclamation of the word is central to our gatherings (we are a morning prayer parish), but they are few and far between.

Less an acquiescence to the incoming commander in chief, it is an indicator that we do not think that preaching is all that important.  If our churches are not centers of gospel proclamation, woe be unto us.