Preaching & Worship Summer 1981

ARTICLE TOOLS

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Collecting sermon illustrations is only half the battle. The other half is storing them under appropriate headings so they can be easily retrieved. Here are three systems of information management that represent different approaches to the problem.

The New Baker's Textual and Topical Filing System sells for $29.95 (Baker Book House, Grand Rapids). This is an indirect filing system which is becoming more widely accepted than direct filing (i.e. "filing alphabetically by words"). The system contains three sections in one volume: a) a topical index, b) a textual index, and c) reference spaces which contain lines for filling in information.

The topical index has just about every topic listed alphabetically that a preacher would need. The tricky part is handling synonyms. I looked up "broadcasting" in the topical index to file an article the day I bought the system. "Broadcasting" was not listed, so I wrote it in (there are generous white spaces before each printed topic for writing in your own). Later, I found the topic "Radio and Television" was listed, and I had inadvertently filed material under both topics.

The textual index follows the topical. Baker has divided the Bible into chapters, and each chapter is treated as an individual topic, receiving its own reference space. All material dealing with that chapter is filed together and is separated by verses on the reference lines in the reference space.

Don Sharp developed his Sermon File-A-Fact System on the basis of his many years in the preaching ministry. It sells for $39.50 and is available in religious book stores, or from his company, Creative Pastoral Services of Waynetown, Indiana. This system would best fit the needs of preachers who plan their sermons weeks and months ...

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