COMMNICATING TO CONTEMPORARIES
Wallace Hostetter
April 1, 1992
When our church started, my vision as the founding pastor was to gradually move from a traditional approach to ministry to a more contemporary one. I believed we could blend the two traditions. I was wrong. Although our church grew rapidly as many were attracted to the contemporary style, most of the founding members still desired a traditional worship service, and they told me so. To satisfy both groups, we began a traditional service and expanded to two contemporary services. This presented me with a new challenge. I found that people in the different services didn't respond alike to my sermons. Soon, I realized I was going to have to preach differently to the contemporary crowds than to the traditional. Today I preach the same text in both styles of service, but I significantly rearrange the content. I often use different illustrations and a different style of delivery. During the half-hour hiatus between the early traditional service and the first contemporary service, I tinker with the sermon. I determine what to take out and what to add (having gathered more supporting material and illustrations during the week than I can use in the first sermon). Here is what I keep in mind as I adjust the message: Highlight the visual. Those who attend the traditional service tend to be auditory learners. They are accustomed to following a textual message delivered in a Reformed lecture style. People in the contemporary services prefer a variety of learning styles, especially visual. From childhood they have been inundated with television and image-based advertising. For example, in the traditional service I might take five minutes to explain that there is no such thing as a Christian who stands alone. When I preached that theme to the ...
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