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Preparing sermons is one of the most delightful and painful experiences a pastor faces every week. For five years, that experience was enhanced for me as I had the privilege of meeting with other pastors to work on our messages as a team. Each week I drove four hours round trip to participate, and I would do it all over again. I discovered a new joy and a higher level of effectiveness in my preaching.

But how can you prepare a sermon as a team?

Five Requirements

To fit on a sermon research team, members must meet certain standards.

First, each person must be committed to contribute. The plan breaks down if a person chronically comes without having done advance study and preparation.

Second, team members need to respect one another. If one member's study habits or theology are suspect, it will diminish the chemistry of your team's mix.

Third, there must be an openness to the Spirit's leading. Almost every week, I would think I was going in one direction with the message, but the Lord would use the team process to redefine or redirect my message. Each time I obeyed the Spirit's prompting, God used the sermon in powerful ways.

Fourth, a team member must be willing to share his best material. Egos can get in the way of pastors helping pastors. We need to be satisfied knowing that God used our research to help many churches, regardless of who gets the credit.

A fifth requirement is to preach in series. It might be possible to preach random sermons week to week and get some benefit from a team approach, but preaching in a series maximizes the benefits. For instance, if someone brings an illustration for week one of a new series that doesn't quite fit the direction of your message for that first week, you can save it, and because series preaching has a common theme from week to week, you could pull that illustration out for a perfect fit in one of the following weeks.

The Method

Here is how this process could unfold in your area.

Begin by identifying like-minded pastors who would be open to participating. Don't limit yourself to your city. I drove four hours round trip because of the benefits of this process. Others on the team drove an hour or more.

Next, schedule a retreat for one full day. Each person should bring their ideas for sermon series for the next year. Our team did this in the fall for the following year. It is imperative to come "prayed up" for God's leadership in this meeting. Though we each brought ideas that we believed God was leading us to use in our own ministry settings, it was amazing how often these series ideas overlapped. Only occasionally would a team member opt out of a series because it didn't fit his context.

Then, each week about ten of us met on Thursday for two hours about the sermon for that Sunday. We came with our sermons at least outlined, including any illustrations or humor we intended to use. One by one, we would share our material. We always left those meetings with more good stuff than we could possibly use. Instead of stretching to find enough for a sermon, our challenge was deciding what we should include from all the great options at our disposal. After our meeting, I edited my sermon with the good additions from the team and typed my sermon on Thursday evening.

The Rewards

After five years of being in a sermon preparation group, I have discovered many benefits from such an experience. I have the collective wisdom of many pastors, instead of just my thoughts. This added richness, variety, and texture to my preaching.

Another benefit of team preparation is free research. I had always envied high profile pastors who could afford to hire staff researchers. I would say to myself, "Sure, my messages could be consistently strong too, if I had a research team!" Guess what? You can have a research team, and you don't have to hire someone.

Imagine ten people on a team who each week came with file folders bulging with clipped articles from the newspaper, lists of supporting Scripture references for the message, anecdotes, jokes, and outline ideas. No one person could have assembled all that material on his own. I left our meetings with a stack of information that could have produced a dozen sermons. I could pick and choose the best ideas for one strong sermon, and the research was free.

A third benefit of team preparation is you can play to your strengths. Are you great at finding appropriate humor, outlining a text, or making practical applications? With the right team mix, you'll have someone in the room that is strong in areas where you need help, and you'll contribute to the team from your strengths.

A fourth benefit of a team process is the required advanced planning. The church I pastored for ten years in Kentucky utilized drama and video clips with regularity. Because I had planned my preaching schedule in advance, our actors and technicians had ample time to find appropriate material to fit the message for the morning.

A final benefit of team preparation is mutual support. Many weekly meetings found us praying for a team member facing a tough issue in his church. Often someone making an important leadership decision would seek counsel from the group. Over the years, our hearts became tightly knit. Though I am now many miles from my preaching group, they are still cherished friends.

Because of this team approach, the task of preparing sermons was not a weekly burden, but rather a blessing.

Adapted, and used with permission from Rick Warren's Ministry Toolbox at pastors.com

Brad Johnson served as a teaching pastor and pastor of missions for Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, California.