I am a staff elder/pastor at The Well in Portland, Oregon. As I have about 50% of the teaching responsibilities, I am on to preach this week. The text is Mark 12:18-27. I have spent the last week preparing an outline of what I think the text means, and what the Holy Spirit would have us to know and obey. My understanding is limited, however, and I am hitting a few roadblocks: Why is there no marriage in heaven? How much time should I spend teaching on that surprising reality? And how can God be the "God of the living," as the text says, if Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are obviously dead?

Contributing to my "preacher's block," are my own limitations: I am a 40 year old vocational pastor; I only went to about a year of Bible college, as I providentially fell into pastoral work; I thought I was going to be a missionary, so I intuitively, and not always exegetically correctly, see every biblical text as a call to the unreached. No matter how hard I try, I am always going to see the text through my own parameters of experience, understanding, and training. How am I going to teach this text, true to its original meaning and context, with appropriate application, to our generationally and culturally diverse congregation? Frankly, I don't think I can.

Outline tested, corrected, and expanded

Enter Jeff. Jeff is also a pastor/elder at our church. He is a semi-retired contractor who grew up in a very rural part of Oregon. He has been married for over 30 years, and he has two grown daughters. For most of their marriage, Jeff's wife has been in a wheelchair due to an auto accident. As we talk through my outline for this week's message, my understanding and application of the text grows exponentially. Because of Jeff's pastoral sensitivity, he points out that we must slow down and unpack Jesus' teaching that there will be no marriage in heaven, as this will be a hard pill to swallow for some in our congregation.

Enter Justin. Justin is an operating room nurse. He also serves as a pastor/elder. Justin was in the Navy, so he speaks in a direct, matter-of-fact way that is a breath of fresh air in our often overly PC environment. He also has a gift of wisdom; what takes me five minutes to explain takes Justin 15 seconds. His wife is from the Philippines, and he has two young daughters. Justin helps brings clarity and focus to my understanding of the text's meaning.

Enter John. John is also a pastor/elder. As a critical care nurse at a local hospital, he is often involved with people who will soon die or are facing death. He is married, and he has two young daughters. He grew up in Puerto Rico, and cut his teeth in ministry leading Intervarsity at a college campus here in Portland—a college known for liberal everything. John points out that because of the promise of resurrection for believers, the patriarchs, in a sense, are still alive. John and the other elders help to remind me of Paul's language for believers who have died; they have only "fallen asleep" (1 Thessalonians 4:15).

Enter Eric. Eric is also a pastor/elder. He works part-time at our church in addition to his full-time job in the food business. He has been married for over 30 years to his wife, who is from Guatemala. He gets cross-cultural communication in a way few do. He has two grown children, one of whom is developmentally disabled and will remain under Eric's care for life. The text now comes even more alive through Eric. Specifically, Eric points out that since marriage is a picture of Christ and the church, and Christ and the church will be fully united in the new heavens and new earth, this picture will no longer be needed. Simple, yet profound.

Enter Stan, whom we affectionately call "The Bishop." Stan is a few weeks away from being officially installed as out newest elder/pastor, though at 65 he is the oldest on our team. Stan is black, and growing up in the South, he experienced racial tension and prejudice that I have only read about. Stan's first wife died of cancer, so he knows what it means to suffer and cling to Jesus in ways that I have not yet learned. He is now remarried, and his wife has recently come through cancer and a life threatening auto accident. When Stan speaks of the sovereignty and goodness of God in difficulty, everyone listens. I see a perspective in the text through Stan that I did not see before.

I now feel ready to preach the text. My outline has been tested, corrected, and expanded through the input of my brothers. I have new levels of understanding and application. May God bless the preaching of his Word!

Team-teaching

This is team-prep—working through a text together, using the gifts, experiences, training, and perspectives of a group of people. Nearly every week for the last nine years, our church has prepared sermons in this way, and we have experienced God's blessing through it. Our sermons tend to be more well-rounded and complete, having gone through this refining and deepening process. They also speak to a broader audience, since people from various backgrounds have had a hand in shaping what is said. Additionally, I find that when I get up on a Sunday morning to teach, I speak with more authority and conviction, knowing that what I am about to say has been through this screening process.

The process of team teaching is essentially three-fold:

1. Start with the right people. Team teaching requires biblically qualified, humble people. In team teaching, one's ideas will be tested and maybe corrected, so teachability and the ability to defer is a must. Diversity is also important, as the congregation will benefit most when those of different ages, ethnicities, and life experiences craft the sermon. Also, some on the team should be in non-ministry vocations, for that is how most of the church spends their week.

It is important to note that there may be people who are not officially on the teaching team who should be sought out for input. For example, while our preaching team is made up of male pastor/elders, we regularly get input from our wives. The female perspective is invaluable in forming what and how we communicate. Also, we ask different members within our congregation to teach about once every couple of months. This not only helps develops new leaders, it also provides fresh perspective and insight to the congregation.

2. The person giving the sermon presents an outline. Team teaching does not necessarily mean that the entire sermon is written together. In our context, the person assigned to preach has been studying the text for at least a few days before meeting with the rest of the teaching team. A rough outline is presented to the team, with the structure, big ideas, and application points identified. The speaker walks through the outline with the group a few days before the weekend service. The group's purpose is to hear, test, refine, and expand on the outline, making sure it stays true to the text, with appropriate application to the hearers. Sometimes, the outline presented requires very few adjustments, while at other times the speaker finds that significant changes need to be made. It is very important that each person on the team has already read the text in advance, and is familiar with the main ideas and themes that will be discussed.

3. After the sermon is preached, the team then provides feedback. We do this during the first part of our weekly elders meeting. The emphasis should be on encouragement, pointing out the various ways the speaker handled the text correctly. Occasionally, humble, loving correction may also need to be given, showing the speaker how they can improve.

As with any methodology, team teaching can have a few drawbacks. Firstly, it can take longer to prepare a sermon. For those who are accustomed to working quickly, team teaching can slow things down, as there is another layer of preparation to work through before the sermon is complete. Secondly, as the team works through the outline together, many different directions or ideas can be presented, and it can be difficult for the speaker to determine what to include or exclude from what the team says. Lastly, in team teaching, there may be people who are giving input on the sermon who themselves have never had to preach a sermon. Consequently, they may be overly critical of the speaker or have unrealistic expectations. (One way to remedy this is to have each person on the teaching team preach at least once or twice a year. This ensures that each member of the team knows first-hand the sober weightiness of teaching God's word to God's people).

Under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, the apostle Paul referred to the church as a body, with Jesus as the head, and us as individual members who complement one another (1 Corinthians 12). Team teaching provides a way for the different, complementary parts of the body of Christ to directly inform the weekly preaching.

CJ Coffee serves as one of the pastors of The Well Church in Portland, Oregon.