This week I had one of those experiences that I know will be life-changing, though I don’t know exactly how. I attended a preaching conference at the Cathedral College of Preachers in Washington, D.C, a beautiful setting where ministers have come to study and refresh for eighty years. It was breathtaking to wake up every morning and see the National Cathedral from my bedroom window. It was challenging to hear about new ways (to me at least) to think about preaching. It was comforting to feel the watchful eyes of saints, keeping vigil from portraits and library shelves, as I wrote and thought.
I registered for this conference because I knew my preaching could use some work. What I found out was that my preaching needed to be set free – free from a compulsion to analyze a scripture to death. Though scholarship remains important to me, I was given license for the first time to live in the text and trust the Spirit to speak to me in images, not just through commentaries.
To be honest, I left the Cathedral College quite confused. Before, I saw preaching as one more responsibility – a huge one – piled on top of all my other ministry duties. Now I am hungry to preach, to live in the scripture and emerge with a word for the people of God. What does this mean for me, serving a call where my preaching opportunities are very limited? This confusion is actually a grace note, because it comes from a newborn sense of possibility, of God working in ways I can’t yet understand.
This conference would have been a useful learning exercise based just on the location and the topic of preaching as testimony. What made the experience, however, was the women. I had the chance to live and learn among clergywomen under the age of 35 and some very sassy, spirited mentors. We shared the blessings and difficulties of being young and female in our diverse ministry positions, denominations, and locations. We preached with each other in powerful, lovely voices. We shared advice, horror stories, and breakthroughs. My usually-restless soul felt at home in this community of comfort and challenge.
I have described this week to my family as a gift that it will take me a long time to unwrap. I think that is the mark of a Spirit-filled event – it’s not over when it’s over. How is this conference shaping me, shaping all of us who participated? And how will God use it to shape others through our ministries? Through the grace of Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, time will tell.
Laura Stephens-Reed, ordained to the Alliance of Baptists/Cooperative Baptist Fellowship traditions, is currently serving as Pastor with Children and Families at Central United Methodist Church in Decatur, Alabama. She is an alumna of Candler School of Theology at Emory University.
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