Central Abbotsford

Perhaps you already know this, but at Northview, all of our preaching pastors undergo several sermon reviews over the course of the year. As it happens, this week was my opportunity to be reviewed. Although it can be daunting to sit in a room with several members of our gifted pastoral team (not to mention a number of our Immerse and Ministry Apprentice students) and have them pick apart one of my sermons in detail, the purpose behind this process is to build one another up, while also modeling how to give and receive feedback in a truthful, yet gentle manner.

When we review a sermon, we are looking for a number of things, most notably:

• How well the preacher explained the text;
• How clearly the preacher explained theological concepts and showed God’s character;
• Whether the message of the gospel was preached from the text;
• How the preacher illustrated anything needing illustration;
• How the preacher applied the message of the text; and 
• Whether the sermon was delivered in an engaging and compelling manner.

We are aware that the effectiveness of any sermon in moving someone’s heart is dependent entirely on the work of the Holy Spirit; yet, we as pastors know that God has entrusted us with the sacred responsibility of communicating His word to those people who gather within our local congregation of God’s church.

As I consider the six criteria above, an interesting thing that inevitably comes up in most of our sermon reviews is that at least five of them must be measured with the audience in mind (arguably, the question about the gospel applies no matter what!). A sermon or teaching that explains a theological concept at a seminary level would likely be out of place in a middle school class. An engaging preschool lesson might not be quite as compelling in a weekend service. The more that a sermon or teaching is comprehensible to the audience, the more effective a preacher will be (after all, there is a reason that when the Spirit descended at Pentecost, all the people gathered could hear in their own languages!).

I have had the privilege of being the Central Abbotsford pastor for a little over a year now, and while I have had the opportunity to have good conversations with many of you, I still have many more to do. And not all of those good conversations have touched on matters of deep theological importance. In short, I would love to have a bit more data that would allow me to take the theological temperature of those who attend here.

Enter Ligonier Ministries. Ligonier was founded by one of my favourite theologians, the late Dr. R.C. Sproul. Every few years, Ligonier partners with Lifeway Research, a Christian research firm, to gauge where the American public, both churchgoing and non-churchgoing, stand in terms of their understanding and belief regarding fundamental points of Christian doctrine. As their website indicates, their goal is to “diagnose prominent errors and to prescribe the cure: the clear teaching of sound doctrine. We hope these findings equip Christians with insights for discipleship.” Lord willing, an understanding of the audience will allow pastors and local churches to disciple their people well.

To adapt their survey to the local church setting, Ligonier allows groups to administer the survey in their own contexts. To that end, I have created a Northview Central Abbotsford State of Theology Survey. I am hopeful that I can use this as a tool to help me understand you better, and to help identify areas that I should be focusing on in my preaching and teaching to you.

So, if you are someone who regularly attends Central Abbotsford, I am inviting you to take this survey. It consists of 35 statements that you are asked to agree or disagree with along a scale, and shouldn’t take more than 10-15 minutes to complete. I ask that you only take this if you have attended Central Abbotsford at least five times in the past year, or if you are planning to make it your regular church home in the very near future. Please don’t share the link widely, as I would like the results to reflect where we are as a local expression of the global church. The survey is confidential, so please be fully honest with where you are in your beliefs! This isn’t a test, it’s a tool.

If you have any questions about why I am interested in this information that aren’t answered in this newsletter, please reach out to me! My email address is eheath@northview.org. 

See you Saturday,

Eric