Sermon Maker, The

by Calvin Miller

Three contemporary, humorous parables of a preacher who struggles with his need to changeSam the preacher wonders what has gone wrong with his sermons. Are people still listening? Well-known storyteller and communications professor Calvin Miller combines his fiction writing with his insight into preaching to address the changes faced by today’s preachers, especially the fact that contemporary congregations have shifted to a different way of listening. How can Sam recover his passion for preaching?In this short, entertaining, story-driven book, church leaders will see honest reflections of themselves. But the narrative humor also provides a clever way to stimulate thought and discussion on how preachers and preaching are changing. Some places in the story will lead to laughter, others will cause readers to pause and reflect. But whatever the reaction, The Sermon Maker leaves the reader encouraged and changed.Extensive commentary on the stories provides insight from the author into the best ways to communicate. Just as the story in the tremendously popular Who Moved My Cheese? impacted readers in the business world who were facing change, so this book is designed as a quick but stimulating story for any church leader who preaches or is concerned about the state of preaching today.

160 pages, Hardcover

First published May 1, 2002

About the author

Calvin Miller has written over 40 books of popular theology and inspiration. A former pastor, he is professor of preaching and pastoral ministry at Beeson Divinity School in Birmingham, Alabama. He and his wife, Joyce, have two grown children.

Reviews

[Rick Dobrowolski · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great little book that concentrates on the art of preaching. I appreciated both the fictional story and the notes that accompanied it. This book serves to jumpstart your mind in thinking through how to be effective in preaching.

[Bret Hammond · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've read a lot of Miller's works, mostly his poetry (the Singer Trilogy is one of my favorites) and some of his humorous works (The Philippian Fragment was much fun). I think this is the first time I've read anything of his that was "practical." I was glad to see him still include his flair for storytelling and humor in this one.

Honestly, though, this one didn't grab me like I had hoped it would. It's been on my shelf for years, loaned to me by a friend who wanted me to read it, sign it, and pass it on to another preacher. For some reason, I never could get into it but forced myself this weekend. I'm glad I read it, but I can't say I got much out of it.

It deserves a second look, though. As Miller mentions in his preface, there are the three vignettes from Pastor Sam's life, and then there are a host of notes. You can read the vignettes and the notes, or skip one in favor of the other. It was much easier to follow the stories and then glean from the notes. I would be glad to go through again sometime focusing on the notes.

[Amy Young · Rating 3 out of 5]

I re-read this book this week and have decided it is a good one to pull out about once a year. Even though I am not a preacher, I am a communicator -- here are a few of the "keeper" quotations

"To try to be interesint or clever was a kind of sermonic cheap shot when the world was so much in need of redemption."

"Sermons must always answer the question of who God is and what he expects" and then he had a great example from Barbara Brown Taylor who attended an Easter service in which the pastor told joke after joke. 'I have never in my life wished so badly for the pulpit police. I wanted someone with a badge to go up and arrest the uy, slap some handcuffs on him, and lead him away.'

"Great preaching springs from two wells -- life among the people and time alone with God. If you would know this great passion, spend time alone with God and spend time in the company of people, where he is ever to be found in abundance."

"We are brought to the ragged edge by the feeling there is a huge gap between the Christ we believe in as preachers and the one our members seem to demonstrate in their treatment of us."

[Jeff]

Great read. It's the story of a worn-out preacher, and his experience with meeting an angel, "Sermoniel" who helps him write sermons from the heart. One side of the book reads like a story, the other is the sidenotes the other has put in for those who want a more "doctrinal" book! Appeals to postmodern readers and modern readers!