Sermon Series Planning

Preaching is a pivotal part of life in any church. However, in a day where pastors have to be visionaries, executives, shepherds, and preachers, it can seem daunting to figure out a long-term plan for preaching that will introduce congregations to a wide range of biblical texts and to preach those texts in a way that communicates sensibly to the congregation. This is to say nothing of the additional challenges posed by the rise of podcasting and the ease of access that many congregants have to thousands of different preachers every week. The pastor’s job as a preacher has gotten harder, and the standard he is judged by has gotten higher.

Docent has been assisting pastors with sermon series planning for over 14 years. Each pastor is partnered with a researcher who either has finished graduate school or is currently pursuing a graduate degree. As such, they are experts not only in the academic tools needed to prepare careful sermons drawn from the biblical text, but they’re also comfortable identifying and recommending “connective tissue,” which refers to images, stories, anecdotes, and illustrations that help to connect the text itself to the life of the congregation. As they develop relationships with pastors, Docent Researchers are able to offer assistance planning out a long-time preaching strategy that will be tailored to the particulars of a given congregation, reflective of the pastor’s own desires for preaching, and shaped with the long-term needs of the church in mind.