Lenten Sermon Competition

Date/Time
10 Feb 2017 until 30 Apr 2017
12:00 AM - 12:00 AM

Location

Category(ies)

• Competition

More Details:

Strengthening Faith at Work

Creative Ministries Network Congregation’s MISSION TO WORK COMMITTEE invites you to participate in a sermon competition for clergy and preachers in Australia of any Christian denomination.

The aim is to support preachers to prepare and deliver sermons within their own church communities that will advance a theologically sound vision of faith and work, to encourage and inspire church members to see their ordinary work as a front-line of God’s mission in our world.

Why this focus on work?  A recent National Church Life Survey found that over the course of a year, only one per cent of clergy said they often preach on employment issues, and 24 per cent said they sometimes preach on this topic (Bottomley, 2014, p.18).  Our sermon competition is to encourage more preaching about people’s work lives.

Sermons are eligible if they are preached in Lent 2017 on at least one of the lectionary readings for the Sundays of Lent from the Revised Common Lectionary (RCL).

Here are the awards –

• A $100 first prize for the best sermon for each Sunday of Lent;
• A $300 first prize for the best sermon overall for the season of Lent.

Award-winning sermons will be printed online in a PDF booklet on the CMN Congregation website.

These are the rules:

• Sermons must be the original work of the submitter and must not have been previously published.
• The sermon must reference at least one lectionary reading from the Revised Common Lectionary for the Sunday of Lent on which it is preached.
• There is a maximum of 2,000 words plus documented quotations/sources.
• Sermons will be submitted electronically in MSWord or text format.
• The deadline for entries is midnight April 30th 2017.
• The winning entry for each Sunday and the overall prize will be a sermon which is judged to be the most creative in integrating the reality of paid or volunteer work with the biblical witness, and offers a theologically sound vision of faith and work that encourages and inspires church members to see their ordinary work as a front-line of God’s mission in our world.
• Winning preachers consent to allow their names and their sermon to be edited into a booklet to be published on the CMN Congregation’s website.
• The Mission to Work Committee will appoint the judging panel and an independent chairperson. Information on the panel will be on our soon to be launched web site.

Entries

• Include a brief covering letter with any significant background about the sermon.
• Include your brief biographical sketch.
• Include your name, mailing address, telephone number, and email address.

Email entries to:  Faith and Work Sermon Competition, johnbottomley@netspace.net.au