Here’s an article over at Josh Harris’ site about Mark Driscoll’s preaching style – he uses nothing but a few post-it notes.
Preaching Notes: Mark Driscoll (Josh Harris).
When I was just starting out in ministry, I read the works of W. A. Criswell, who always advised young preachers to start out by keeping 2 admonitions: study in the mornings (keep the mornings for God) and preach without notes. I embraced this philosophy and God has blessed ever since. There are occasions when I will use post-it notes like Mark, but I never prepare a manuscript and rarely prepare more than a skeleton outline before preaching. Now come the questions…
How do you remember everything? I don’t. Most Sundays I go home remembering something that I left out, and always it’s something that the sermon should have done without. The trick is in remembering the exact wording of the points that appear on the screen overhead, which is what people are writing down. If I can remember those major emphases, I’m okay.
Does this mean you don’t prepare? On the contrary, I have to prepare all the more since I won’t have written notes to fall back on. I was taught by my father-in-law, Danny Kirk, to “preach from the overflow” of a well-studied life. If you aren’t full to overflowing by the time you preach, your congregation will go home hungry, notes or not.
Isn’t it scary? What if you do forget something major? Yes, it’s a bit scary, but that’s the beauty of it. You take a huge risk anytime you leave the notes in the study. What if you fail? You’ll simply have to trust God all the more.
How has God blessed? For one thing, I get to keep constant, uninterrupted eye contact with the congregation. I don’t have to find my place or read from a page. My voice is stronger becuase I’m looking up and forward, and people are less likely to doze off if I am continually scanning my audience… they might get caught! Also, God blesses faith and risk-taking. I’ve been nervous at times when I felt the message taking a different shape during preaching than what I had planned before. It’s in those times that God really works in my heart during the message.
Is it for everybody? Absolutely not! Some who read this need to stick with manuscripts, not because preaching without notes is harder, but because every preacher is wired differently. You need to be you. What I would say, however, is that every preacher ought to try it at least once. It’s like skydiving… or something else not quite so dangerous… you can’t know how it feels until you try. If nothing else, it will shake up your style for a Sunday and people will be moved out of their comfort zones a bit by the change. Don’t forget that awkwardness can create highly teachable moments.
