Sermon Whisperers how-to | Iowa Preachers Pro 2

The Sermon Whisperers'

how-to guide.

You’ve agreed to serve as a Sermon Whisperer for a Preaching Fellow in this year’s cohort of the Iowa Preachers Project. This is how it happens.

The pattern.

Each module between October and May, your Preaching Fellow will draft a sermon that will eventually become part of a sermon series in the congregation they serve. They’ll send you a sermon manuscript to read and comment on. You’ll return it with your comments and complete an online form about that sermon with several angles for you to think about.

Dates and topics.

You’ll receive one sermon manuscript in each module. This year’s sermon series will be based on the book of Psalms. Each module’s sermon will focus on a different type of psalm.

Week of October 27

Lament psalms

Feedback due by November 10

Week of November 24

Trust psalms

Feedback due by December 8

Week of January 12

Imprecatory psalms

Feedback due by January 26

Week of March 2

Ascent psalms

Feedback due by March 16

Week of March 23

Royal psalms

Feedback due by April 6

Week of April 20

Covenant and salvation history psalms

Feedback due by May 4

Week of May 25

Praise psalms

Feedback due by June 8

Psalm categories.

Preaching Fellows will choose one from a number of psalms in each category as the preaching text. These aren’t the only types of psalms, and some can fit in more than one category. But this list covers most of the territory. [Click on a number to read that psalm on BibleGateway.]

Lament psalms

6, 10, 13, 17, 22, 25, 30, 31, 69, 73, 86, 88, 102

Trust psalms

11, 16, 23, 27, 62, 63, 91, 121, 125, 131

Imprecatory psalms

35, 69, 83, 88, 109, 137, 140

Ascent psalms

120-134

Royal psalms

2, 18, 20, 21, 29, 45, 47, 72, 93, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 101, 110, 144

Covenant and salvation history psalms

2, 18, 20, 21, 29, 45, 47, 50, 72, 78, 81, 89, 93, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 101, 110, 132, 144

Praise psalms

8, 33, 67, 95, 100, 103, 104, 111, 113, 114, 117, 145, 146, 147, 148, 149, 150

Comment and return.

Your Preaching Fellow will email you their manuscript as a Microsoft Word document, which means you can use Word’s comments and editing features to highlight anything you’d like to comment on as you read the sermon. Save the document and then return it with your added comments to your Preaching Fellow by the dates listed on the table above.

Your comments on the manuscript itself remain between you and your Preaching Fellow. Keep in mind, however, that this is intended to provide your Preaching Fellow with a mirror that helps them see what they don’t have the distance to spot. It’s a process of supporting them in what often feels like lonely, isolating work. Keep it honest and kind.

Online feedback form.

The last step is completing the online feedback form. Click here to get to the form. Other resources are available elsewhere in this tab.. (Your responses will be known to only your Preaching Fellow and the Project staff. They’ll be used as a metric for assessing our own work in the Project.) There’s a sample sermon there along with a sample feedback form to give you a chance to think about the assessment categories in advance. In addition, click on “What Makes a Good Sermon?” to read about the various categories.

Pray.

Please keep your Preaching Fellow in your prayers. Ask God to give them faith, strength, hope, and wisdom as they mine God’s Word and produce something old and reliable to say in a new way. It is fair game to ask your Preaching Fellow if there are specific things they’d like you to pray for.

Contacts.

Pastor Bob Chell serves as the coordinator for our stable of Sermon Whisperers. He will track the feedback loop activity If you have questions or concerns, you can email him at the address we included in the email to you. In addition, you can always contact Ken Sundet Jones, the Project director.