<p> Top Ten Tips for Improving your Preaching</p><p>1. PLAN AHEAD (so you can dialogue, study, and crowd source)</p><p>2. Keep in mind the scripture, the season, and the needs of the people.</p><p>3. Don’t be afraid to be prophetic and speak to current events, even controversial ones.</p><p>4. Take time to edit. Some things should remain behind the scenes. Some examples would work better in a different sermon. Not everything you think of should necessarily make it into the final product.</p><p>5. Be yourself in the pulpit.</p><p>6. Avoid “Stained Glass” and “”Ya’ll come on down” voices.</p><p>7. Read regularly.</p><p>8. Find good preachers to watch on Youtube, find time to worship elsewhere.</p><p>9. Carve out and protect time every week for sermon preparation. Enlist Staff Parish to support your efforts.</p><p>10. One key to building a vital congregation is engaging in an ongoing dialogue with your congregation about our holy scriptures.</p><p>Dawn Chesser © 2014 The General Board of Discipleship.</p>