Filling-In For Pastor? Speaker Checklist:

I’ve written a few posts over at chucklawless.com in recent weeks; grateful to Chuck for his inviting me to provide a few “Thursdays With Todd” on his terrific site. This post is similar in content.

If you’re a preacher, then you know that from time to time you are asked to preach where someone else is the pastor–perhaps as a guest speaker, a visiting evangelist, or even a staff minister filling the pulpit while the senior pastor is away.

Unfortunately, many speakers seem to think only of the message they intend to preach during their time on the platform. While a solid, exposition of the gospel is the primary concern, there are other matters to consider in both preparing and delivering your message.

Filling-in for my pastor while he recovers from surgery in recent weeks has led to some reflection on this topic that I hope will prove helpful to other preachers:

Talk To The Pastor

In most churches, the pastor himself will invite someone to preach, so a helpful conversation with the pastor is inevitable. In many cases, however, someone else will contact you: a staff minister, a deacon, or a layperson, for example. In larger congregations, the senior pastor often asks another staff member to contact a potential guest speaker, discussing the preaching opportunity as well as covering some of the logistics as the day approaches.

But never assume talking to the senior pastor is unnecessary! Contacting the pastor honors him and allows you the opportunity to express your gratitude for the invitation to be in the church he shepherds. It also allows you to learn something of the spirit and ministry of the church body, information that will likely aid your preaching.

Remember You Are There To Support The Pastor’s Ministry & Leadership

Always speak in a way that lends support to the pastor and pastoral leadership of the church. It helps to mention the pastor’s name favorably, perhaps somewhere in the introductory remarks. A brief, sincere statement about how honored you are to preach in the pastor’s absence strengthens the church body and minimizes any perceived “threat” that you are there to draw attention to yourself.

Share how blessed the church is to have a pastor who loves the congregation and faithfully preaches the Word. Speaking favorably of both the pastor and leadership blesses a church family and increases the likelihood that they will actually listen to your message.

Read Or Listen To The Pastor’s Most Recent Message

Few speakers do this, but they should. Again, you are there to support the pastor and leadership. Taking time to at least overview what the pastor has been doing in the pulpit is invaluable to your “being on the same page” with the body life of the church.

So don’t make this about you! You may even quote something the pastor said in a previous message or a meaningful Tweet he shared recently on social media. When you sincerely share such statements, you show that you too are benefiting from the pastor’s ministry.

Avoid Using Media The Pastor Does Not Generally Use

This is not a hard and fast rule, but if we are there to support the pastor and the weekly ministry of the church, then it will be helpful to make our day(s) on the platform as seamless as possible.

If the pastor does not typically use video clips in his preaching, then we are probably wise to avoid them, as well.

If he does not have his sermon outline in the bulletin or printed worship guide, then we are less likely to distract from his weekly ministry by insisting that our outline be included in the material.

Some may disagree here, but I feel that using media the pastor does not typically use may draw attention away from the Word and bring too much focus on the speaker who is filling-in.

Avoid Anything That Distracts Or Divides

In addition to the previous concerns, the guest speaker is wise to avoid “hot button issues” like sharing his political persuasion, addressing secondary (or tertiary!) theological matters, or defending the use of a particular Bible translation.

Whatever your preferences or convictions on such matters, avoid doing anything that takes attention away from the main issue at hand: preaching the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ in a way that helps the congregation grow in the absence of their pastor.

**These are just a few things to think about when filling-in for a pastor, what would you add?