Introduction

Briefly, I believe that stories stick in people's memory far longer than explanations of those stories.

Stories were the core of rabbinic teaching. When a student asked a question about a story, the rabbi responded with another story. And, if necessary, with another... and another... Until the student finally got it.

So my principle in preaching is to find stories that can connect and reinforce each other to present a coherent whole.

Paul Gibson, when he was the national Anglican Church of Canada's liturgical guru, wrote a paper connecting communion and preaching. In the Eucharist, he said, we take a whole loaf and break it into little pieces. In preaching, we take fragments of text and try to show that they are part of a whole loaf.

When I can't tell a story, I create one, by involving members of the congregation in some kind of shared experience – a visible object lesson, perhaps, some activity.

After some of these Sunday suggestions, I've supplied some excerpts from my writings. You might want to use them; they might merely provoke further thought. I'd like to offer other people's writings too, but I can't, because I don't own copyright on anything but my own material.

Here is a list of Jim's tips.