Sr Sermon Feedback

Some feedback/comments I got on my sermon:

First: My evaluation. I only got about 4 hours sleep and then worked on it more in the morning, printing it out at about 11:20 when our service starts at Noon - Doh! But I'd know the main points of what I'd wanted to preach for well over a week, and it was simmering and getting under my skin (our homiletics prof says when you're done writing the sermon it isn't necessarily done with you yet, but I think my process often works more in reverse - the sermon gets done with me and then I can write it). So even though I in many ways "knew" it, I didn't have much time to practice it after I had it all typed out in its final form... had to go off my notes more than I planned, but nobody made a comment about that. It was also such a relief to have it done and over, and a nice bonus was people seemed to like it.

Other people's feedback:
By some "coincidence" what I preached about echoed a discussion the 2nd-year students had had that morning in one of their classes. So, it really hit home for some of them. I guess praying and praying over the thing worked. :)

Several people said I seemed calm and confidant - inside I was anxious and nervous, but apparently people couldn't tell.

M+ (Field Ed. Supervisor) said he thought I seemed more comfortable preaching in chapel and thought it was that this is my community - I know them and they know me, where at the parish we don't know each other as well. He said that people know my personality so they know where to laugh, and also I could personalize it more. It was definitely for the audience here and wouldn't necessarily translate over to any preaching situation.

A first year student who lives in my building said she and our liturgy prof looked at each other afterward and said, "whoa."

A staff member: Mentioned a particular piece/phrase that stood out to her because she had never put it that way before and it seemed to connect for her – naming the parts of the body, “there goes a lung, there goes an eye, there goes the heart.”

At lunch E said he was sorry he missed it, people had told him it was good.

Later that night two 2nd-years who'd said "good job" earlier in the day to me, when they found out G was dropping something off at my apartment told him to tell me I did a good job.

R: Called and left me a message saying she was proud of me and that she heard people talking about it during the day.

J - a 2nd-year: Said people were talking about it in her study group, and some other places in the afternoon.

M a staff member: Said I did a good job and that she'd mentioned something about the sermon in a meeting with two people high-up on our faculty/staff, they both said they missed it, and she told them it was worth hearing. When I said to her that I need to work on my process so I can finish early enough to work on delivery, she said she thought my delivery was fine.

Some emails from students as they RSVP'd about the baby shower:

D: PS--your sermon today was right on!

S: You did a great job on your sermon. Thanks for the clear prophetic voice and the hope as well.

EJ: PS FABULOUS and MOVING sermon today. Thank you for the inspiration and renewing of my spirit to do this work.

Another staff person: I’m so sorry I missed your sermon. I was in an 11:00 meeting that went on and on, and I hated to walk in chapel halfway through your sermon. Everyone was raving about it at lunch! (she asked me to send her a copy) I just read your sermon – WOW. It makes me wish all over again that I’d been there!

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When our preaching colloquy met I did get some good suggestions, things to think about next time, but they all prefaced it by saying that they'd really liked it and these were little things. It was nice to hear some of their reaction to some of the pieces of the sermon.

I'm just not sure in the future if I am preaching everyweek if it can take as long to simmer and for me to get it out as it currently seems to take, it's getting a little easier as I become more familiar with the nuts and bolts of it all and also more familiar with my own creative process, so maybe the time needed will shorten. I don't know if right now it's filling the time I have, and with less time in which to prepare I could finish and end up with a similar result? Preaching prof suggested estimating how long you're going to need and then calculate backward to figure out when you need to start, and to try and always be working ahead. I think he tries to work about a month ahead. I don't know if I could swing that... but I might be able to be working "this" week not on the sermon I would preach that coming Sunday but the following Sunday.