The Question of Announcements

The supreme purpose of the weekly church service is to break the bread of life to the hearers, that they may receive spiritual strength to meet the conflicts and challenges of daily life. Nothing should be allowed to ob­scure or dim this prime objective of our Sab­bath service. But it is to be feared that in many of our churches this is not done; other things are allowed to take up the time of the service, thus robbing the people of the spiritual food which they are there to receive.

I have special reference to the matter of announcements. Too many ministers use an inordinate amount of time in making these, which is entirely unnecessary, and tends to leave a feeling of disappointment in the hearts of the hearers. Ministers have been known to take half an hour of the church service in an­nouncing matters which could easily have been disposed of in ten minutes. The reason for using this unnecessary amount of time is the excessive comment which some feel must ac­company the announcements, or at least many of them. This may be due largely to the fact that the minister does not go over the an­nouncements carefully before he makes them in public. This leads to thinking out loud be­fore the congregation, thus consuming time.

Careful thought should be given to this mat­ter, as so many different items seek to crowd in. I have followed the practice of having each announcement written briefly on a separate card or piece of paper, or listing them all on one sheet, as the occasion may indicate. Then I give each in the fewest words necessary to make the announcement. Of course there are some special matters that require additional comment, but this should be brief and to the point, and not expanded into a sermonette. If attention is given this matter, one will be sur­prised at the amount of time that can be saved in this part of the service, resulting in a much better feeling in the minds of the people in the pews.

The ideal method, of course, is to have a printed or mimeographed church calendar which will list the announcements from week to week. This will obviate the necessity of the minister's repeating these, or at least most of them, orally. However, in these times of de­pression, when many churches cannot go to the expense of getting out a calendar each week, the minister may have to handle this announce­ment factor himself; and if he does, he can secure the legitimate good will of his audience by making his remarks brief and comprehen­sive, yet as clear as possible.

There is another vital factor which deserves consideration. Many times a visiting minister from the local, union, or General Conference, will occupy the pulpit. Is it not really a dis­courtesy to him for the resident preacher to use up minutes of time to no really good pur­pose, taking part of the time which the visiting minister ought to have in order to deliver his message? Many a visiting minister feels dis­heartened when, getting up to speak, he glances at the clock and sees that the time for his ser­mon is well-nigh gone. This may be an un­conscious selfishness, but it is selfishness never­theless, and we resident preachers ought to be keen to avoid this offense.

Eagle Rock, Calif.