Addressing Pulpit Supply Problems
Pulpit Supply Problems …we just don’t have capacity in our Presbyteries to fill our pulpits each week.
A common challenge that ministry leaders in congregations that find themselves without a minister - either temporarily or those who may never call another minister (full or part-time) - bring to our attention often is - Sunday Pulpit Supply.
I hear it from Interim Moderators all the time - we just don’t have enough capacity in our Presbyteries to have an ordained minister or lay preacher fill our pulpits each week. I also find the same is true for full-time clergy looking to take some time off for vacation, study leave, or especially an Inter-Mission (if you don’t know what that is - please reach out by replying to this email) - some are just not able to take a Sunday off because there is no one available to cover for them. If this is your reality, let me offer two ideas - that are not my own but I wish I had at my fingertips when I served in congregational ministry.
The first comes from The Rev. Dr. JP Smit (if you watched his workshop noted above, you would have heard it) - equip a team of people from the congregation (could be a vacant one or the one where you serve full or part-time) to lead the following using these resources:
Step #1: PCC Lectionary Worship Resources
Provide the weekly lectionary based worship resources created by The Presbyterian Church in Canada for the worship service - encourage them to adapt the materials to their context and personal comfort.
Find them here:
https://presbyterian.ca/worship/
Step #2: Free Lectionary-Based Sermon Videos
And then use this FREE lectionary-based video sermon resource where some of America’s best preachers reflect on one of texts for the day. It is a simple as pushing play.
Find them here:
https://asermonforeverysunday.com/
You could also encourage the worshiping community to add a part to their worship service where they discuss what they have heard for a few minutes.
The beauty of the Lectionary and these available resources are that one can work ahead in the calendar. Yes, it might take a little time to get people to feel comfortable planning, leading, and worshiping in this way - but it allows a congregation to continue to worship on a Sunday or when they gather without being dependent upon an ‘official preacher’.
I could see this being used in congregations where a ‘fixed pastor’ is present from time to time for the sake of variety and when pulpit supply isn’t readily available. Try it out - and let us know how it goes!
The second idea (and maybe I’ve mentioned this one before) comes from The Rev. Tim Purvis, Associate Secretary of Ministry and Church Vocations of The Presbyterian Church in Canada.
This one is more for ministers serving in congregations. Tim’s idea that he made use of when he was in congregational ministry was to have a fully prepared service (prayers/liturgy) and sermon placed in the Church Office with the title: “In case of emergency, use this!” He advised his Session of its existence and how to use the materials that they might find there. This allowed for the elders to feel comfortable to lead a service if for some reason Tim wasn’t able to be there or perhaps it could be used when pulpit supply was challenging to find.
The only catch is that the minister would need to prepare it ahead of time… and determine with the elders if it could be reused once an emergency had occurred. 😉