Preaching During the Interim Time – Transcript

Jim Latimer
Welcome to Coaching for Interims. We are about empowerment for interim ministers: best practices and quick help from interims for interims – wisdom from the field. My name is Jim Latimer and today I have the pleasure of speaking with Reverend Philomena Hare. I asked her to speak a bit about preaching during the interim time – to share some of her wisdom on this. Philomena, it’s good to have you.

Philomena
Well, thank you, Jim. This is a topic that’s near and dear to my heart. When a congregation is in transition, there are a lot of emotions. And I think it behooves the interim to be in tune with those emotions. And, I know for myself, sometimes I read the congregation as being sad or being anxious, and a part of me may want to preach to those emotions. But at the end of the day, the good news is about hope, love and transformation. And so, for me then, I don’t think you have to necessarily go off lectionary because you want to preach on a theme or a series. And I don’t always preach the gospel of the day, sometimes I preach the Psalm. I love the Hebrew Bible stories. I find it easier to actually craft my sermons around those stories, because it’s a God who is just ridiculously in love with a people that sometimes return that love, and most of the time don’t. And it’s the tension between them. And that’s where interim churches – churches in transition – that’s where they are.

The other theme that I frequently fall back on is the wilderness experience. Again, that’s a time when it’s very easy for a congregation to look back into their history, their past, and their legacy, and want to linger in that space – their glory days so to speak. And perhaps it was, or maybe it wasn’t, but they certainly remember it as being their best days. And the interim task, then, is to say, “No. Your best days are ahead of you, not behind you.” And that’s where the teaching and the preaching of those themes, that’s where it comes in.

I was going to say, again, I’m aware that the interim minister is constantly in communication with the church leadership, but there are others in the congregation that you may only see on Sunday. And that’s their only connection. They come on Sundays. They’re not serving on any committees. Their ministry is out in the places where they love, live and work. And so it’s important for them then, for that group of people or that individual, to be reminded that no matter what you are experiencing today, be it, “What’s going to become of us?…we’re losing members.” Or, “We don’t have…” you know, whatever – they can fill in the blank. Come Sunday morning, you’re instilling hope in their hearts, hope that God has something new for you, whatever your ministries were in the past, and how well you accomplished them. Maybe that’s just it. You’ve done that. Now God has something new for you. And so to be faithful, is to engage that discernment and say, “Okay, maybe our ministry…”, I don’t know, maybe you had the best children’s or youth ministry. But that’s not where God wants you today. And to be open to that. If you want to be faithful in life, don’t keep looking back. Because again, we know these stories of what happens when people look back. We know what happened to our religious ancestors when they continue to look back.

Jim Latimer
What I’m not hearing you say is let’s not pay attention to the past or ignore it, but I am hearing you say, “Don’t live there.” That is, don’t try to resurrect it, or somehow think that it’s more important than the future.

Philomena
Yes, I am saying that, but I’m also saying that that past has its own place in your narrative – in your story as a congregation. So yes, it’s your past, and now, we need to help you. The interim minister will help you grieve those losses, and something new will be birthed.

Jim Latimer
That’s nice. And that is a wilderness experience, isn’t it, hanging in there, looking towards something new. I’m reminded of the three preaching themes you spoke of earlier – hope, promise, and living in the wilderness.

Philomena
And living in the wilderness – nobody wants that experience. But to get to the promised land…if I may preach for a moment. There’s Egypt. There’s a desert. There’s a promised land. Egypt had water, good food. Not so good experiences. The Promised Land God is sending you do has everything. But you’re traveling through that wilderness, through desert, and that’s what we don’t want. But if you stay in the desert, you’re gonna miss out – on the promises.

Jim Latimer
If you stay in the desert, or if you stay in Egypt, in both cases you’re going to miss out.

Philomena
Yes, and here’s the other thing. I once heard a pastor say about a wilderness experience, one or two things happens. It can be a place where tremendous growth can happen, or we can die. So, again, if you put it in the context of interim transition time for a congregation, that’s where they are. They can either dwell in the past and not see opportunities within, around and among them, and where the spirit is leading them, or…. That’s the dilemma: “I want to hang on to what I know!” But by hanging on to that, you miss the the opportunities that are coming your way.

Jim Latimer
Well, that’s a beautiful place to end. And that rich ministry, thank you for reminding us of that. Thank you, Philomena, for sharing again, your spirit with us.

Philomena
Thank you, Jim. Thank you.

More Bits Of Wisdom from Rev. Philomena Hare
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