Transition is one of the most delicate moments in church life. The season of transition is always a time of uncertainty, whether the congregation is between pastors, recovering after conflict, changing leadership, or redefining its mission. Individuals pose questions that they have never posed before. Old assumptions are put into question. The various groups start drifting apart. And amidst it all, there is less togetherness to hold on to. However, writing about the pulpit in a powerful book, From the Pulpit to a Movement, David W. Stokes shows that it is the pulpit that can be the most significant tool that a church needs to use in its transitions, but which can lead the church to the very brink. Transitional seasons can be occasions of light, rest, and new purpose through strategic, Spirit-led preaching.
Stokes starts by determining a harsh reality, that unity does not come automatically in a church; unity is a product. And there is nothing that develops togetherness as clearly and purposefully as preaching that is straightforward and addresses the needs, fears, hopes, and mission of the congregation. At the time of transition, individuals have an emotional and spiritual susceptibility. They need steady direction. They need reassurance. They should be biblically based. And they must have a message that brings the whole church together. This is the place where strategic preaching is required, according to Stokes.
The preaching at transitional times in most churches has become a maintenance work a time to prop things until a full-time pastor is assigned. But Stokes turns this assumption upside-down. According to him, the transitional pulpit is one of the most significant parts of the life of a congregation. Why? Since in the process of transition, individuals are more receptive to the truth. They are more attentive in their minds, open-hearted, and their expectations are more flexible. Only the experienced transitional pastor, interim, or supply preacher has the privilege of setting direction on the path of the church in sermons that are biblically based and strategically guided.
Stokes stated that the pulpit did not cease to be powerful; it just ceased to have leaders who stood behind it and who were intentional. Preaching had, over time, become a matter that the pastors planned week in and week out instead of planning strategically how it would influence the future course of the church. Sermons were isolated messages that were comforting but not mobilizing. The congregations became used to being motivated as opposed to being guided. Consequently, several churches started to lose their way, not due to a lack of passion or programs, but the pulpit ceased to anchor and give a sense of direction to the mission of the church.
Stokes argues that the pulpit is always constituted to be in the lead, and history testifies to it. The Scripture is full of movements that started with messages. Moses did not govern Israel through committees but by proclamation. Nehemiah was able to rebuild a city that was broken by means of hope, clarity, and challenge. Part of the formation of identity and mission was that Paul planted churches through sermons. And Jesus did not change the world over the organizational strategy session, but preached about it that characterized a Kingdom. The pulpit, when served according to the will of God, is a place where movements start. It is where people see, where unity is cultivated, and where the people of God are called into action.
Stokes provides a way out in From the Pulpit to a Movement: reclaiming the pulpit is the most powerful and Spirit-enabled leadership platform that the pastor has. Preaching should once again be deliberate, purposeful, and geared towards the future of the church. Strategic preaching is not what Stokes is referring to when he wants to substitute biblical truth with the language of leadership, it is the presentation of biblical truth in such a way that leads the congregation into unified mission. It is preaching that deliberately transfers people wherever they are and wherever God is inviting them to go.