Preacher Lab: Recent Episodes
Will Wold
Rev. Adam Baker is the Webster Site Pastor at Gathering Now
In our conversation, talked about how he uses his background in counseling as a way to preach, how important it is to be with his people on a day-to-day basis, and how preaching preparation is different for a place with multiple sites.
Rev. Dr. Mark Charlie Charles is the Senior Pastor at Memorial United Methodist Church in Fernandina Beach.
In our conversation, we discussed his sermon preparation on holy days that come around every year, how preaching fits into the whole service, how he creates sacred space for all emotions while preaching, and some great book recommendations (and walk up songs).
Jenny Andison is the former area bishop of York-Credit Valley in the Diocese of Toronto and became Rector of St. Paul’s Bloor Street in 2021. Bishop Jenny was born in England and has lived in Pakistan, India, Singapore and Japan. She earned an Hons. BA from Queen’s University in 1994 and received her Master of Divinity from the University of Toronto (Wycliffe College) in 1997. In 2017, Wycliffe College honored the bishop with a Doctor of Divinity.
In our conversation, we discussed her sermon de-brief sessions, preaching with a new campus starting, and how important prayer is in preaching.
Dan Wunderlich is the Pastor at Lakeside United Methodist Church in Sanford, FL. In our conversation, we talk about his ritual of going to Starbucks before preaching on Sunday mornings, how he starts Advent earlier than the lectionary, how the practice of Improv has shaped his preaching, and the use of questions during the sermon.
It was a great conversation with some incredible insights. If you want to watch him preach his sermon about “Finding Faith in the Deep Water” you can find it here.
Karoline Lewis the Marbury E. Anderson Chair in Biblical Preaching at Luther Seminary, St. Paul, MN, where she has taught since 2007. In our conversation, we talk about listening to the Bible outloud, the performative nature of preaching, and the power/shadowside of images.
Karoline is the author of a number of books which you can find here. She is also the Program Director for the Festival of Homiletics where you can find more information here.
Jason Byassee is the Senior Minister at Timothy Eaton Memorial Church. Before that, he was the Butler Chair and Full Professor of Homeletics and Biblical Hermeneutics at the Vancover School of Theology. We talk about feedback vs. feedforward, the first laugh, and the eruption of the real.
Jason is the author of many books, has his webiste here, and you can watch his sermon about Nadab and Abihu titled “Strange Fire” here.
James Howell is the Senior Pastor at Myers Park UMC in Charlotte. In our conversation. we talk about shedding love vs. making observations, preaching as a docent, and how important trust is when you are preaching.
James is the author of the book The Beauty of the Word: The Challenge and Wonder of Preaching and hosts a podcast titled “Maybe I’m Amazed”.
John Shughart is the pastor of Lena Vista UMC in Auburndale, Fl. In our conversation, we talk about how important it is to know where you are the history of a placer when you preach, preaching as “conceiving, bearing, and naming”, and how to preach on passages that have been preached so many times.
We have had a lot of conversation with many preachers last year, but now some of the best clips are put together for you to learn and enjoy. Season 2 with new preachers will be coming out son.,
Olu Brown is the Lead Pastor at Impact Church in Atlanta, Georgia. In our conversation, we talk about preaching in the midst of transitioning out of a church as a pastor, what Sunday Rehearsals look like at Impact Church, how to pivot in preaching when things in the greater community happen, and how preaching happens everywhere.
His newest book, Normalizing Next, can be found here.
Mike Conner is the Senior Pastor at First United Methodist Church of Pocatello, in Pocatello, Idaho. In this conversation, we talk about different Theological Worlds,” how Mike sits in the same text for multiple weeks at a time, how important funeral sermons are to him, and the best critique of all time “My God is not a pigeon.”
Adam Mustoe is the Senior Pastor of First United Methodist Church Kearney. Adam talks about how he carves out his week so he can complete his sermon by Wednesday, how he sees successful preaching as good ole’ “homecookin’”, and his 3 facet of good public communication.
Bishop Will Willimon was the bishop of the North Alabama Conference, Dean of Duke Chapel, and author of multiple books. In our conversation, Bishop Willimon talked about the appropriate length of sermons, how he speaks truth in love and humor, how the Scripture passage read shapes the style of the sermon, and the “mic drop” ending.
Jim Harnish is a retired United Methodist Pastor and author. In our conversation, Jim shares about his first time preaching, how he reinvents sermons like Tom Brady did with his football career, how curiosity has helped him stay fresh, and why he writes a full manuscript every single time he preaches.
Bishop Ken Carter is the Bishop of the Florida Conference and of the Western North Carolina Conference. In our conversation, we talk about preaching in different size churches, the mantra “trust your material”, and the voice of preaching.
Meghan Kilingsworth is a Co-Pastor of First United Methodist Church in Sanford, Florida. Meghan shares about how she polls her community before she preaches, listening to the Bible read outloud, and how preaching is a two-way relationship.
Bishop Sue-Haupert Johnson is the Bishop of the North Georgia Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church. In our conversation, Bishop Sue talks about how she preaches as a Bishop, the feelings and instincts she has a preacher in the moment of preaching, and how her own self-awareness shapes her preaching.
Charley Reeb is the Senior Pastor at John’s Creek United Methodist Church near Atlanta, GA. Charley shares about how preachers need to preach about their conviction, his experiment with preaching the Lectionary, and how he rehearse sermons and story telling.
Matt Miofsky is the Lead Pastor at The Gathering Church in St. Louis Missouri. Matt shares about his teams process of creating sermon series is similar to the TV show shark tank. He also shares with us about how he gets feedback on the sermon before he actually preaches it on Sunday. Finally he shares that the two books that have recently been impactful for him is a commentary on Revelation and a book about James Baldwin.
Magrey deVega is the Senior Pastor at Hyde Park United Methodist Church in Tampa, Fl. Magrey shares all about his Christmas Eve sermon for 2021. We talk about how he looks for the one interesting “hook” when he is preparing a sermon, how he sets up his Word document to help remind him of Johann Sebastian Bach, and how important naps are for preaching.
Rob Tucker is the pastor at Watkins United Methodist Church in Louisville, KY. Rob talked about preaching on his series titled “Christmas Playlist” and he is preaching on Psalm 98 related to the song “Joy to the World.” We talked about the history of the song “Joy to the World”, preaching and worship as “story”, the importance of transitions, what comedians can teach preachers, and his process of word dumping.
Rob Bledsoe is the pastor at Trinity United Methodist Church in Bradenton, Fl. He is preaching this week the first sermon of the Advent Season. Rob shares about his process of preparing a manuscript, how it different preaching as a new pastor to a congregation, and how he is learning to move sermons from the head to the heart.
Dave Killingsworth is the Co-Pastor at First United Methodist Church of Sanford. He is preaching this week on healing through Isaiah 52:9-53:12, Hebrews 4:14-5:9. Dave shares the last week of the healing series, why he intentional writes a manuscript, how he preaches uniquely with his body, and his favorite book from Dr.Seuss.
Allee Willcox is the Associate Pastor at Suntree United Methodist Church and she is preaching this week on mental health and the healing of Bartimaeus. She shares about preaching as an Associate, the planning process with her Senior Pastor and her team, the gift she has with feeling her stories, and how she thinks preaching is beyond Sunday, but exists in what a preacher does Monday-Saturday.
Scott Smith, pastor at First United Methodist Church of Ormond Beach UMC, shares his sermon about “Do Not Worry,” how he developed a team to give him feedback on his sermon ideas before he preaches it, and how he stays in the moment during the sermon.
In this conversation, Clare and I talk about Homecoming, Hebrews 12, and Henri Nouwen’s “Seed of Hope.” Clare shares how she prepares sermons with a team, how homecoming isn’t just about the sermon but about the whole service, and her reasoning behind preaching with a whole manuscript.
Chris Jones is the pastor at Asbury United Methodist Church in Maitland Florida. Chris talks about his sermon series he is preaching on titled “Mythbusters”, explains how he calendars sermons for the whole year, and how he has learned to preach like himself and no one else.
Mike Luzinski, pastor of Spring of Life UMC, tells us about his sermon on 1 Timothy, estimates of giving, and a story about Pandora charms.
Welcome to Preacher Lab, I hope that you enjoy, learn, and grow from other preachers that are on this podcast.