Today marks the beginning of the ministry of Sean Rowe as the 28th Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church. We welcome Bishop Rowe’s leadership and vision—and we’re especially delighted to have a Preaching Excellence Program alum as presiding bishop.
Bishop Rowe attended PEP in 1999 as a Virginia Theological Seminary student. Just eight years later, he was elected as bishop of the Diocese of Northwestern Pennsylvania—and for 12 years, he was the youngest bishop in the Episcopal Church. During his episcopacy, he served as bishop provisional of the Diocese of Bethlehem from 2014-2018 and as the bishop provisional of the Diocese of Western New York.
In June, Bishop Rowe was elected on the first ballot to serve as the 28th Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church, the youngest person ever elected to that role. His investiture will be held on November 2. Learn more about that service, including how to watch it online.
The Preaching Foundation recently asked Bishop Rowe to share his insight about the importance of preaching.
What do you see as the most important elements of compelling preaching?
I have been a bishop for seventeen years, and one thing I have learned is that when the bishop comes to visit, there is a lot going on. In the midst of confirmations, baptisms, special choir anthems, post-worship potlucks, and more, no one is hoping for a long and arcane sermon. I strive for good biblical exegesis that offers a memorable story and clear, solid application for the listeners. No matter whether we are preaching in a small-town parish or a grand cathedral, we should hope that listeners leave church with a clear takeaway and a story that makes them think about the lessons long after the service ends.
Like the French philosopher who said he would have written a shorter letter if he’d had the time, preachers need to take the time to whittle down their sermons to the point of elegant simplicity. The goal is to make one point and make it well.
You’re a Preaching Excellence Program alumni. How did that experience help shape your preaching and ministry? Any particular pieces of advice that you still use?
I am old enough to have attended the Preaching Excellence Program in the last century—the summer of 1999— and I still remember it vividly. The Rev. Anne Bartlett of the Diocese of Oregon, one of our instructors, talked about faith in a way so compelling that it has stayed with me ever since. As a young seminarian about to enter my senior year, I developed my own voice by listening to her and to the rich diversity of preachers and approaches the program provided so effectively.
What suggestions do you have for preachers — and for listeners — to improve the experience of giving and receiving the Good News through preaching?
Absent a compelling cultural or contextual reason to preach long, keep your sermons to 10 minutes or less. I am dumbfounded by the unnecessary length of sermons I hear and the amount of extraneous detail they contain.
Preach simple, clear, one-point sermons that bring the biblical story alive and give your listeners a way to apply what they have heard to their own lives.
I hope that people who listen to preaching will respect the preachers they hear enough to challenge them with good questions and to take seriously the ideas they are sharing and the faith they are proclaiming.
Imagine the Episcopal Church in 10 years. What role do you think preaching has in strengthening a vibrant and dynamic community of faith?
As many parts of our world continue to secularize, clear and compelling preaching will be essential to forming Anglican Christians and conveying the power and beauty of our mystical traditions. Excellent preaching helps build communities of faithful people committed to the renewal of God’s mission in the church, and that is the work to which we are called in the next decade.