To receive these posts by email each Monday, sign up.
For more commentary on this week's readings, see the Reflections on the Lectionary page. For full-text access to all articles, subscribe to the Century.
For as long as I can remember I have loved listening to good preaching. When I was a child, both of my parents participated in the worship service in ministry auxiliaries, which meant there were some Sundays when I would spend a significant part of the service sitting by myself. Instead of trying to escape to the balcony to be with my peers, I would find a space on the pew behind the choir so that I could be close enough to feel the music in my chest—and as close as possible to my pastor as he preached.
