What a lay preacher sees?

Jim McFarlane, Active Member & President of SBLPA

Jim McFarlane. A well-travelled member of the Scottish Baptist Lay Preachers’Asssociation gives a few observations on worship in Scottish Baptist Churches

As a lay preacher and having a privilege of speaking in a few of our churches, you encounter different worship styles, from traditional to a more ‘freer’ type, from an order structure type form of worship to spontaneous contributions as the Holy Spirit prompts. All kinds, and like Bertie Bassett – all sorts.

The first time I’m preaching at a place I like to know on average how many will be in attendance, song books used, are the songs on power point, am I leading, is there a praise band, do I pick hymns or is it their worship leader, do I give him/her my theme for my address to allow him/her to pick accordingly and do I have a say in which items to sing. I also like to know the age group of the congregation because depending on the ages will determine the choice of hymns/praise items I’ll choose for that Sunday. I also like to know how many children are in attendance, and is it OK to choose suitable praise items for them?

I do take guitar (and sometimes I take it out the case). I think my guitar rhythm is slightly better than my singing, but again no guarantee I’ll play the right chords. But it is worship. I often lead. If given the choice I prefer to lead because when you are up front you can get a feel for the place, sense the atmosphere. I think if the worship/singing is poor it can have a knock on effect on ones preaching. That is why if I choose the hymns or have a say in what to sing I always pick a well known opening hymn that I’m sure the church will know and they will all sing. It gets you in the mood for worship when you hear all the voices raised in adoration. Mind you, there’s nothing worse, if the hymns are chosen by A N Other and you don’t know any of them, it too can affect your preaching.

There are places that I do go to and they don’t have a praise band but they have a choir. (The minister announced that the choir would sing ‘far beyond all human comprehension’ and they certainly did.) It is important that if you, as lay preacher, are picking hymns you let the church know as soon as possible, that enables the musicians (and those in the choir) ample opportunity to familiarize themselves with the songs.

The reason is because I honestly believe if the church only has an organist, a lot of newer type hymns/praise items are written for a variety of instruments and therefore are not suitable for a variety of instruments and therefore are not suited to the organ alone, and many an organist will struggle, and we wouldn’t want that, would we. If there is a praise band, as a guitarist I sometimes join in, but I always ask the bands permission, and if they’ never heard me I’m in with a shout!!

More than likely, the visiting lay preacher will notify the church of his/her choice of hymns, usually songs that will link with what God has laid on their hearts to preach, but I would suggest to the churches if the church is picking the hymns, then they should notify the visiting speaker the items chosen so that he/she can be fully prepared.

Let us worship Him with all our hearts. For he alone is worthy.

The above article was originally published in 'Praxis' (Resourcing Scottish Baptist Leaders) July 2008 amd reused here with the kind permission Jim McFarlane, Baptist Union and the Praxis Editorial Team.

Why the SBLPA?

Gwen Legge, Culduthdel Christian Centre, Inverness

“What led you to become a member of the SBLPA?" Glen asked over a coffee in the Glasgow branch of Wesley Owen.

I had travelled down to Edinburgh a couple of nights earlier to attend “Frenzy” with my teenage daughter and following my application to join the SBLPA, had arranged to meet Glen for a chat. I sipped my coffee, wondering how he would respond to my answer, but I had no need to worry. he was very encouraging - so encouraging, I find myself writing this article to tell others about my journey!

Having become a Christian in 1998, my faith could be described as lukewarm, and well, we know how God responds to lukewarm! (Rev 3; 15-16). In 2001, God spoke to me during my quiet time. He told me that we, that’s myself, a husband and 3 kids, should move North. I wasn’t sure that it was quite so easy, and I offered God a fleece of my own. I would put our house on the market, and if God really wanted us to move North, then the house would have to sell before the end of the summer, allowing us to move the children's schools with minimum disruption.

The house duly went on the market, and God must have been smiling to himself, for the very first people to view our home put in an offer the next day, which we accepted. I knew then that God had a purpose behind us moving North, and that became clearer, as following our move, my husband became a Christian, as did our daughter and two sons. Obedience often comes at a price, but brings blessings beyond our understanding. The teaching of our new pastor, Max Donald, opened up the Word in a way that blew my mind. I began to hunger for God, and our relationship entered a new depth.

In 2006 I went to CLAN gathering in St. Andrews, along with around 20 others from our church. We camped in glorious sunshine (yes, really!!) and enjoyed much teaching and fellowship. During one of the seminars, teams of people, gifted in prophetic words, were sharing whatever God put on their hearts. I was given a prophetic word which said that God was wanting me to preach His word, to share with others about His love and His power. He said that more would be revealed to me about this calling and that I would overcome any blockages.

I think my friends were more astounded than I was. For me, it felt like finding out that the gift you really wanted for Christmas was under the tree! I felt humbled, excited and scared, all at once. I shared the word with my pastor and we prayed together that God would reveal more to me as He had said.

Over the next year or so, I received several indications that indeed this was the right path for me. I explored the concept of distance learning, and was given the opportunity to do some talks at church. After leading the Good Friday service in 2006, the pastor asked me how I felt, and I simply said “As if I was born to do this”. That’s when I knew, I had really been called by God to share His word. I asked close friends, including Max, to pray for me, that I would know what to do next.

As I prayed one day, I realised that doors don’t always open by themselves, that sometimes we have to push them. I went onto Google, typed in preaching, and started looking up various colleges that offered courses. Nothing seemed right. Then I happened across the SBLPA website, and as I read the different articles, something stirred inside me. I met with Max and told him what I was feeling. He agreed with me that it seemed a positive route to go, and that formal training in the ministry didn’t seem to be what God wanted for me. My application was accepted, and I am planning to start some distance learning in September, to widen my knowledge and saturate my thoughts in the Word. What next? I have no idea, but I trust the man who does!!