I was accredited as a Methodist Local Preacher in 1953 and have been preaching for nearly sixty years. Over that time both my sermons and my conduct of worship have changed considerably as I have tried to ensure that congregations have been given the opportunity to worship in an environment which is helpful, culturally aware and, above all, a worthy expression of our relationship with God.

I have always been interested in liturgy, the framework of our worship, and found the principles behind the post-war Liturgical Revival in the French Roman Catholic Church of great value. The saying of the Mass in the vernacular, the altar pulled away from the east wall so that the priest could face the congregation, the participation of lay people (including women!) both in the liturgy and the distribution of the elements, the use of music groups and, above all, the understanding that worship is by the people not for them.

This revolution eventually affected worship throughout western Europe. Current illustrations include the predominance of worship groups of both singers and musicians, the rise of Worship Leaders in Methodism and more involvement by members of the congregation in readings and prayers.

When I started preaching the hymn sandwich was the norm for most non-conformist worship. Indeed, the service up to the sermon was often referred to as ‘the preliminaries' and the sermon was the focal point, concluding with a hymn and the Benediction. Training consisted of courses in Old and New Testament and Christian Doctrine and the ‘Worship and Preaching' course and examination was optional. Obviously this affected the pattern of worship as very little emphasis was placed on the choice of hymns or the content of the prayers. I remember being quite suspicious of set liturgies and rarely included a prayer of confession in a service. There was no set Lectionary to be a guide to service and sermon themes, with interesting results. Biblical scholarship seemed to have little effect on the content of sermons and the Bible was usually accepted as a largely historical document.

One consequence of this was that, apart from special services, there was little to distinguish one Sunday from the next or one congregation from the next. Sermons were therefore preached to many congregations, often with little or no modifications, assuming that people's needs and expectations were the same in town or country, inner city or suburbia. Morning services usually included a Children's Address which was a moral tale, often with little overtly Christian content.

In contrast I was conducting worship twice one Sunday recently and whereas I used the same Bible readings and the message was essentially the same, there were considerable differences between the services in order to meet the expectations of two quite different congregations; one being an urban family-orientated church and the other being a smaller, more conservative church in a post-war housing estate. In both services I used taped music, followed the current Lectionary theme, divided my sermon into two sections, provided a visual aid (bread which I had baked to the recipe used in Iona Abbey) and a mix of written and extempore prayers. In the morning service members of the congregation participated in prayers and Bible readings and their worship group opened the service. There were some different hymns and prayers as well as slight differences in the text of the sermon.

I use prayers and music from many sources, as long as they meet my criteria for being worthy of inclusion in the worship of God, which thereby excludes much of the modern catalogue of so-called ‘worship songs'. As my own church has purchased a lap-top and projector I have used PowerPoint on several occasions when it was appropriate. However, it is important to take into account the expectations, culture and ethos of each congregation; we can no longer assume that all congregations can be treated in the same way or will find the same way of offering their worship to God. Congregations, as well as individuals, have their own means of expression and their own needs. In the past it was generally assumed that most Methodist congregations were of a similar character. This no longer applies, if it ever really did.

The description ‘hymn sandwich' can be applied to many different orders of service which use hymns interspersed with prayers, bible readings and exposition. I no longer use this format. I usually have prayers of adoration and confession earlier in the service and follow the sermon with prayers of thanksgiving and intercession as a response to ‘the word'. However there are times when the subject demands a specific approach and considerable changes to a more usual order. It is, of course, essential that those involved at the church - stewards, organist, readers - are fully informed of the pattern of worship well in advance, especially when there are many changes from the expected order. When occasion arises, for example Christian Aid, MHA, One World Week, Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, I am quite happy to use orders of service, worship material and prayers which they provide, especially as this links us with congregations, both Methodist and others, throughout the UK and beyond.

The sermon still remains the core of non-conformist worship and congregational expectations still relate to its quality. I get far more comments about the sermon than the rest of the service, although that is changing, which is a good sign. As far as content is concerned I am much more relaxed about requests from congregations to preach on specific themes of their choosing. Otherwise I usually look at the Lectionary first and see what I believe God is saying through those passages and my experience of life. The downside of this is that sermons have a much shorter ‘shelf life', although themes can often be adapted, especially if the Lectionary is following a continuous idea. I find that congregations are quite rightly more critical in that they expect a high standard from preachers and I try to tailor my presentation, if not the basic argument, to the congregation. Theologically I would class myself as radical/liberal but as many of our congregations are of a more conservative nature it would be no use alienating them by presenting the Gospel as I see it in a manner they were not able to accept. Here again, this would not have occurred to me in the past, partly because there was not the sharp contrast between different congregations and partly because there was probably an unconscious arrogance about preachers, who believed that they were the main source of knowledge and interpretation for the congregation.

In summing up, my approach to my responsibilities as a Local Preacher has changed over the past fifty years in response to the considerable changes in our understanding of what worship is. Worship should not be a ‘one-person band' but the corporate responsibility of a congregation and it is the preachers' responsibility to facilitate that by their choice of music, prayers, words and visual aids. We should always take into account the experience and specific requirements of individual congregations and, above all, the necessity that our worship should be of the highest quality we can offer. As far as the sermon is concerned I am still a believer in the value of a well-crafted, Bible-based, experience-led, fully researched sermon with well thought out arguments and Christian teaching to the forefront. It must be based in today's world and reflect the experience of the congregation. I am much more likely to use contemporary illustrations and current affairs than in the past. I am conscious that I have been given certain insights into the Christian message because of my experience of life and that should be reflected in my sermons. I hope my services are relevant to 2006 and recognise that, although the Gospel is eternal truth, the package must be as up to date as today's news bulletins.

Donald Smith is a Local Preacher in the Sheffield Circuit