I’ve been using a program called Grammarly lately. It tells me that I write more words per week than 99% of its users. Maybe it tells everyone that (which wouldn’t fit the math), but it seemed to verify that I write a lot of words each week.
Now it might be because I have to prep a sermon every Sunday. And yes, my sermons are longer than some, but not too long I hope.
There is another reason why I write a lot. It’s because being a pastor means that you have to write in different formats for different audiences. The writing has to be regular and it must be done well.
So what are some of the other things pastors should be writing? To start with, let’s look at the pastor as a letter-writer.
1. Letters
There is a long Christian tradition of letter writing that goes back to the New Testament epistles. Many pastors wrote extensively to their congregation, to outsiders and to other pastors. Their collective letter writing can be a devotional gold mine. The letters of Augustine, John Calvin, Samuel Rutherford, John Newton or Martyn Lloyd-Jones all have their own godly character and pastoral wisdom.
Today the way that most pastors engage in letter writing is through email. Unfortunately, email is often seen as a blight in our lives. Yet for all that, it is still the way that people communicate in long written form.
Can email be redeemed? Someone will suggest that we go back to writing handwritten letters as a way to escape email. This is a possibility for some of your correspondence. However, in our modern-day, pastors will still be using email and church members will expect it.
The way to redeem email is to commit to writing well. Thoughtfully crafted letters which are scripturally soaked and prayerfully inspired can be spiritually meaningful for the recipients.
Pastors can work at writing better quality emails in the spirit of the great letter-writers of the past.
2. Devotionals
Frequently pastors are asked to share a mini-meditation on Scripture. This might be at a staff meeting, an elders meeting, a home visit, a potluck or small group. It’s not a sermon, but you have to be able to pray, preach or die at a moment’s notice.
It’s helpful for pastors to write down brief skeleton outlines of biblical passages they are reading devotionally. Maybe there is a single insight they can draw out, whether a principle or other application. You never know when that nut you’ve squirrelled away will be needed!
3. Position Papers
When some pastors leave seminary, their academic muscles get atrophied. But if they are faithful in their calling, they will usually have to employ rigorous study and careful precision to produce position papers on doctrinal issues their church is debating.
Certainly, some pastors will write often about theological issues beyond their own congregation. But even the pastor focussed only on his own patch will have to draft these careful essays on theology. There are many contentious issues that may require an essay like this, whether it involves the church’s views on alcohol use, views on worship music, or views on the millennium. In any of these cases, a church statement will require some careful writing.
4. Summaries of Events
In counselling or church discipline situations, there may need to be written communication that expresses more formal language. This requires a lot of care because when there is a conflict between a pastor and someone else, it is important to be able to communicate clearly. This is also the reason why face-to-face meetings are so important during conflict. At the same time, written documentation and clear communication in writing are often necessary. Pastors need to learn how to write these kinds of summaries, statements of church action or other letters during disagreements. The careful pastor will be able to restate issues fairly, concisely and winsomely. But it takes practice.
5. Discipleship Resources
The pastor will accumulate a lot of bible study material through his years of preaching. It is helpful if he is able to repackage them into training resources for the future. He can create Sunday school classes, small group bible studies, blog posts, booklets, e-books and more.
By re-cycling these materials, he doesn’t merely retread the same sermons to the same congregation. Instead, he re-purposes them for different uses by editing, collecting and regrouping them. When pastors are re-using good material they are simply being good stewards of the resources God has given them.
6. Worship Resources
Some pastors will have musical or poetic ability. So they will be able to write hymns for congregational worship. The hymns may not be any good. Or they may end up being suitable for a different generation’s tastes. But good hymnody is a sign of spiritual life in a church. Pastors with songwriting skills can apply themselves to write hymns and help Christian worship. If no one else will sing them, at least the pastor can!
Not every pastor may be good at hymn-writing, but they will all have to work at liturgy crafting. Even if they used a set format a pastor will have to fill in the blanks. He will have to choose which texts to use, and which prayers to pray. Even if the liturgy has unscripted elements, the outline overall will employ basic categories such as a call to worship, a time of repentance and assurance of pardon, a pastoral prayer, prayer for the Word preached and a benediction. This weekly liturgical writing is something that all pastors must do and oversee, even when it is a team effort.
Public pastoral prayers can be a regular piece of spiritual writing for a pastor. He may jot down notes on the back of his bulletin, or he may craft a written prayer beforehand. There are different courses for different horses and every pastor will have his own way of preparing to pray pastorally for his congregation, the nation and the advance of the gospel. Whatever the preparation, likely there is some pre-prayer praying and writing going on.
Writing to Make Disciples
Of course, some of the greatest theological writings have come from pastors. These great men of God have used their pastoral ministry as the seedbed for their other theological writings. In all of it, their aim was to disciple believers in the churches.
Pastors are writers. But they write more than sermons. Pray for your pastor that he would grow as a preacher, but also as a godly writer in all the channels that are necessary.
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