{"id":33445,"date":"2022-09-10T20:49:15","date_gmt":"2022-09-11T01:49:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/to-write-or-not-to-write\/"},"modified":"2022-09-10T20:49:15","modified_gmt":"2022-09-11T01:49:15","slug":"to-write-or-not-to-write","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/to-write-or-not-to-write\/","title":{"rendered":"To Write or Not to Write?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>A survey by Chuck Lawless of Southeastern Baptist Seminary asked more than 125 pastors whether they wrote and\/or used a sermon manuscript, versus notes or nothing. He found about the same number use a manuscript versus an outline. Among the answers he received:<\/p>\n<p><strong>46% do not use a manuscript.<\/strong> Most use an outline, though the depth of the outline varies from simply the basic points to a detailed outline. Some use only \u201cPost-it\u201d notes with brief bullet points. The reasons given for using no manuscript were several:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>They are better able to maintain strong eye contact when not using notes.<\/li>\n<li>Reading a manuscript while connecting with the people at the same time is difficult.<\/li>\n<li>It\u2019s easy to get lost in the manuscript.<\/li>\n<li>Outlines with key statements and illustrations that are highlighted still give the preacher some freedom in proclaiming the Word.<\/li>\n<li>Using a manuscript \u201cfeels\u201d stiff.<\/li>\n<li>An outline can be an extended outline, so you get the meat of the sermon without being tied to a manuscript.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>44% use a manuscript when they go to the pulpit.<\/strong> Their reasons included the following, some of which surprised me, taught me, and challenged me as a preacher who uses a detailed outline rather than a manuscript.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Every word counts in a sermon, and a manuscript emphasizes that point.<\/li>\n<li>God is in the preparation as well as the preaching, so producing the manuscript is important.<\/li>\n<li>Manuscripts keep preachers on track, helping them to avoid chasing rabbits.<\/li>\n<li>Word count helps with timing, especially when the preacher has a certain amount of time to present.<\/li>\n<li>A manuscript helps the audio-visual team know when to forward the Powerpoint, cue the videos, etc.<\/li>\n<li>Preachers who preach multiple services know exactly what they\u2019ve said when using a manuscript.<\/li>\n<li>Manuscripts provide the core for later blog posts.<\/li>\n<li>For those preachers who want to write books based on sermons, chapters are already prepared with the manuscript.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>8% write a manuscript in preparation, but use only an outline when preaching.<\/strong> Another 1% said they preach with no notes at all, and another 1% said they vary in their approach from week to week. [Click here to read the full article]<\/p>\n<p>So what do you do? And do you know why you do it that way?<\/p>\n<p>Blessings!<\/p>\n<p>Michael Duduit<br \/> mduduit@salempublishing.com<br \/> michaelduduit.com<br \/> @MichaelDuduit<\/p>\n<div style='clear:both'><\/div>\n<div class='the_champ_sharing_container the_champ_horizontal_sharing' data-super-socializer-href=\"https:\/\/www.preaching.com\/articles\/to-write-or-not-to-write\/\">\n<div class='the_champ_sharing_title' style=\"font-weight:bold\">Share This On:<\/div>\n<div class=\"the_champ_sharing_ul\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style='clear:both'><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A survey by Chuck Lawless of Southeastern Baptist Seminary asked more than 125 pastors whether they wrote and\/or used a sermon manuscript, versus notes or nothing. He found about the same number use a manuscript versus an outline. Among the answers he received: 46% do not use a manuscript. Most use an outline, though the &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/to-write-or-not-to-write\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;To Write or Not to Write?&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-33445","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermons"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33445","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33445"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33445\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33445"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33445"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33445"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}