Reflections from Preacher Camp

I went to camp last week! Actually, I should say that Anita and I went to camp last week. For several years now a group of pastors from across the country have been getting together for a week of worship/sermon planning. We called it Homipalooza for a while--homi for homiletic (preaching;) palooza after the rock festival that toured a few years ago.

It is always a week of intense work. Each of us takes a section of the church year and bring ideas about the text and what we might do with them in our sermons. At the end of the week my brain is always tired, but my heart is full!

You see, preaching can be a lonely enterprise. You study all week and have the audacity to say, "This just might be what God wants us to hear!" One of the things that I have always liked about the time with colleagues is not only their wisdom (and these folks are smart--really can't understand why I am there except to fix the coffee in the morning!) but even more the knowledge that we are in this enterprise together.

And it is not just a week. We talk on a regular basis. We talk about our sermons, how to approach an issue, what we are reading, how the kids are doing.

It was that last bit that was added last week. We decided to invite our families. That meant that we had children from 19 to 3, and spouses! It was wonderful! It was a wonderful time to get to know the important people in the lives of my important people. But it was also a reminder that we don't do this preaching thing alone--we do it with our colleagues who are in other places, and with our families.

I came away with ideas for sermons for 2011. But even more I got to know Sam and Hannah Butler; Jackson and Bennett Dean; Sidney and Audra Ballenger; Adam Cooper; and Catherine Somerville. That was real gift!

I can't wait till next year! (Now if I can just get something for September 2010--I seem to have lost those notes from last time!)