Posted by Jim Henderson on: 02.25.2006 /
Last week Hemant visited Park Community Church (not Parkview Community Church) and gave the preacher relatively low marks. Ron (the preacher) was kind and humble enough to respond graciously (which by my way of thinking far outweighs any lack in speaking skills.)
However- A fan of Rons sent the link to the actual sermon Hemant rated so that all of us could determine for ourselves how we think Ron did.
The fan said this “I have to admit I really liked the sermon. I guess that goes to show us that people want different things in a service and sermon.”
So in the spirit of full disclosure here is the link to the sermon.
Please listen and then Rate the Preacher http://www.parkcommunitychurch.org/messagedownloads.aspx?id=1
The Message by Ron May
On a scale of 1-4 stars
1= low
4= high
Comment by: David
1I would rate this message as 1 star. It would not have appealed to me, he actually lost me around the 6 minute mark and I started going forward in the message to find where the interesting parts were. Unfortunately, his voice needs greater inflection and improvement to impart his excitement of the material he is discussing. Maybe Ron wasn’t excited about it. I listened a bit to the prior week’s message by Jackson Crum, and Jackson’s style would keep me more focused. I could sense the passion in his voice and delivery. I would invite Ron to compare his message on August 21, 2005 Understanding God’s Will - Part 1 to this message to see if he can sense any difference. I have that message on in the background as I write these comments.
What was the idea behind starting the sound file in mid-message? Why does it end before the actual end of the service? (although after hearing the recorded quality of the singing, I agree that ending it was merciful). Surely there was a closing by the pastor after the communion that got cut off.
If this is a seeker friendly church, I don’t feel that this message would have accomplished anything more than to have me seek elsewhere. Maybe that is an unfair judgment since it was only based on the message (at least the part I heard) and not the entire worship service or church experience. Maybe it isn’t a seeker focused church.
Also, maybe it’s the Chicago accent, but Ron voice reminds me of Lee Strobel.
Comment by: skikid
2I’d say 2.5 stars (They do half stars on Hollywood.com so I am going to take that liberty)
I understood most of what he was trying to say (I think) but it left me with some questions too… which might be a good thing… exploration is a good thing I think.
It seemed like there was a lot of talk about what is to already be Christian and none of this will make sense unless you are alreay a Christian. So I dont know how that would feel to a non-Christian, maybe a little exclusive?
That all being said the overall message of the sermon was very freeing.
Comment by: Ir
3The preacher (Ron) was kind and humble enough to respond graciously (which by my way of thinking far outweighs any lack in speaking skills.)
I really appreciated Ron’s gracious response here too; I think if I were part of his church I’d be very glad to have him as one of my pastors, but — if last Sunday’s sermon is typical of the way he preaches, I can’t say I’d eagerly look forward to the weeks he was preaching. I give him 4 for coming here and responding to Hemant but only about 1.5 for the sermon (sorry, Ron).
I found it hard to listen to because it lacked structure. It didn’t have a powerful opening or conclusion. It didn’t set up a few major points. To me it just kind of wandered through text and then petered out at the end. I was expecting Ron to give some clear applications of the text but all he seemed to do was comment on verses and then it was over already.
Ron’s lack of variation in his voice was hard for me to listen to also, and his tendency to repeat sentences twice even though I heard him the first time. Repeating a major point once in a while seems reasonable to me but he routinely repeated sentences. He also paused quite a few times in the middle of a sentence which disrupted the flow. To me the way he spoke felt like he was trying to convince me how wonderful each thing he said was. I found this rather tiring and wished he could have used a more ‘normal’ way of speaking. I’m sure he has a lovely ‘normal’ voice! I’ve heard other preachers speak this way, like they are continually urging, or pleading — it seems to be a ‘common’ way of preaching; I found it just as wearing when they did it. (But some things are worse — like yelling at me — thank you for not doing that, Ron)
I was confused about who this sermon was aimed at. A lot of it seemed like stuff all the Christians there would already have known; I would have thought they’d find it boring.
Ron left me hanging by saying that “try harder” was not the right answer, but never explaining what living by faith alone looks like in very practical terms.
I would have liked a few jokes — but I realize that some people have a harder time being funny (deliberately) than others.
I gave him the .5 for the following two things: I liked his beginning comment that to add to the gospel is actually to subtract from it. Also, I was skeptical about what he said ‘curse’ meant, so I looked up the Greek words. When I found it really is related to the Greek word for ‘cut off’, as he said, I was very impressed.
Comment by: Jim Henderson
4Ir
I think you could do this full time.
Nice details and sensitive but sophisticated rating work
Comment by: Lucas
5‘When I found it really is related to the Greek word for ‘cut off’, as he said, I was very impressed.’
Hehe, if there’s ONE thing we’re good at…
Comment by: Westy
6It seems it would be appropriate for me to share my thoughts on the sermon as well. I did feel like this was a good message, and as such, I will share why I appreciated it. I don’t aim to be defensive, but I do feel like some of the prior reviewers may be holding the standard for speaking inordinately high. I wonder, how many preachers today would score 0.5 and below if that’s the honest rating here? Let me just say that, to me, the most important role a pastor has is to shepherd his church. That involves great and caring leadership supplemented by teaching the truth of God’s word. Speaking style or overwhelming charisma would not necessarily be arbiters, to me, of how excellent a pastor is.
Sidenote: Honestly, I question the appropriateness of a public “rate the preacher” dialogue and question its role in bettering the Christian community. I think as reviewers, we need to be very careful to ensure we are remaining fair in our critiques, while seeking to edify the preacher; giving something to build on, rather than negating the positive aspects present. I appreciate the concept OTM has run with via Hemant in offering an outsider’s perspective on church strengths and weaknesses, but let’s be careful in how we, as Christians, cast light on fellow fishers of men.
In regards to this message, let me begin by saying that the most important thing I look for is Biblical truth and content. It is important to me to have a resource from which to learn further about God and his truths. I feel like this message did a good job of it. The central subject is the most important concept of any in Christianity– the Gospel. I feel like the Gospel was clearly conveyed and we were exhorted to live as though we truly understood what it has done for us. The speaking was not grating and did not condemn, and was delivered with earnestness. I like sermons that are very full of content. (the sermon is usually my favorite portion of a service) As intimated above, this was a message that seemed to be targeted more towards Christians. Ir stated:
A lot of it seemed like stuff all the Christians there would already have known
Hemant mentioned a similar thought in his review. I tend to disagree, and I think this is exactly the point. Christians ’should’ already know this, but I think there is a fundamental misunderstanding amongst American Christians today in regard to this very concept. As much as this is a basic tenet of Christianity, many do not live their lives as if it is true. And that is exactly, I think, what the point of the sermon was. We were being called, just as the Galatians were, to recognize the Gospel in its entirety. The other misconception with this viewpoint is assuming that all those in attendance or most those around are Christians or are even Christians that have it all figured out. There are undoubtedly those who were in attendance for whom these truths may have been brand new. And even for those for whom it was not, a return to the ‘basics’ is often essential to remaining humble before the Lord.
Thus, it was a message I enjoyed, and I feel like was delivered well. While maybe not the pastor’s best sermon ever, it was not bad either. We all enjoy different speaking styles, and perhaps one is drawn to the type of message most aligned with how we ourselves ruminate.
Heb. 12:1-3