I once visited a church in which the minister delivered what seemed at the time to be an interesting sermon, but I couldn't quite grasp the real thrust of the message, because it was delivered in a monotone, most of it read with little warmth or enthusiasm. [The church secretary] agreed to mail me a copy of the sermon I'd just heard. When the sermon arrived in the mail and I read it, I realized that the structure of the message was coherent and sound and the points well made. I could hardly believe I was reading the same sermon I'd heard.56

-- Homer K. Buerlein

Years ago the pastor was the best public speaker in town, perhaps the only one. The Sunday morning service may have been the best, or only, interesting event in town. Now the competition is fierce. A preacher is compared not with …