THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, April 7, 1996 TAG: 9604070049
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ESTHER DISKIN, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 183 lines
Forget the bunnies. Forget the eggs. Today, Easter Sunday, is a day when most pastors have just one thing on their minds.
Preaching.
Not just any sermon. Preaching that's exciting enough to set folks on fire with the power of Christ's example. Preaching that moves people to go into the world and do good works. Preaching that gets them coming back for more.
Sure, pastors know they can expect crowds on Easter. But where do those folks go during the rest of the year?
The days from the beginning of Lent to Easter mark the biggest yearly surge in churchgoing across the nation: The average church can expect a 20 percent increase in the number of people visiting during Easter, according to a 1994 Gallup poll.
Once people show up, they sometimes don't grasp what's going on. Two in 10 Catholics and Protestants either misunderstand the religious meaning of Easter or couldn't begin to guess what it's about, says another Gallup poll, done in 1991.
That puts the burden on pastors to be lively and crystal-clear.
``It's a really good opportunity to touch base with a lot of people who may only be there one time,'' said Michael Simone, pastor at Spring Branch Community Church in Virginia Beach. ``It's a moment to communicate not just about Easter, but about the overall message of Christian faith and their feelings toward the church.''
A tall order. Part of the miracle of the season may be that religious leaders find some fresh insights into a story that stays the same year after year - the mystery of the death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ.
Across Hampton Roads today, pastors are speaking to that theme with sermons that typically reflect hours of reading and contemplation, writing and rewriting, and fervent prayer.
Last week, three local pastors talked about their process of creating an Easter message that lifts the spirit and gives the church new life by getting people hooked on churchgoing.
``People come on Easter because they are looking,'' said the Rev. John Peck, priest at St. Gregory the Great Catholic Church in Virginia Beach. ``St. Augustine said that your heart will always be restless until you find God. I really believe people are searching for something.''
JOHN PECK: THE GOOD HOST HONORS ALL GUESTS
Peck keeps his past sermons in a file, a safety net for those dry times when he resorts to recycling an old idea. His Easter sermons get special treatment: He immediately tosses them in the wastebasket.
``That way, I don't repeat,'' he said. ``Every single year, I have to rely on the Holy Spirit. It keeps me on the edge because I have to listen very carefully to God's word.''
One theme connects most of Peck's Easter homilies. Peck, who is 44, graduated 10 years ago from a Benedictine monastery in Latrobe, Penn. His approach to Easter arises from a chapter of St. Benedict's Rule.
It begins: ``Let all guests who arrive be received like Christ, for he is going to say, `I came as a guest and you received me.' And to all let due honor be shown. . . ' ''
When Peck stands before hundreds in the pews, many of whom aren't the regulars, he tries to make them feel just like that - honored and at home.
``They must feel like I am welcoming them like I would welcome Jesus Christ,'' he said. ``I have to be welcoming enough that they would be drawn to Jesus Christ. It has to be there for the whole liturgy, not just the homily.''
Getting people to relax isn't just his way of being nice. He is convinced that it's the only way to get people to hear the message.
``People have to get comfortable enough to hear the word of God,'' he said. `If people are nervous, if they can't understand the words I use, or if they think, `I'm going to be told that I'll go to hell' . . . they click off. But if they feel welcome, that will make them more open.''
For Peck, talking in front of a crowd comes easily. ``What can I say? I'm a ham,'' he admits.
It doesn't hurt that he studied acting, mime and dance before entering the seminary. That's one reason he can't stand still when he's giving his sermon, especially at Easter, which he considers the peak of the year.
``I think all priests should take dance, because it makes you comfortable with your body,'' he said. ``That's why I can preach without a podium. I'm comfortable.''
JAMES COBB: CATCHING ONLY THE PEAKS, ``THEY'LL MISS THE VALLEY''
The Rev. James G. Cobb of First Lutheran Church in Norfolk juggled composition of three full-scale sermons last week, one each for Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and Easter Sunday.
To him, his three talks are tied together - a journey from dark moments when Jesus was betrayed, arrested and stripped, through the Crucifixion and Resurrection.
But he realizes that many people won't be around to hear it. Last week, he told his congregation that he is upset with the growing number of people who attend church only on Palm Sunday and Easter, catching just the high points of the central story of Christianity.
``They go from peak to peak. They miss the valley,'' Cobb said. ``To miss that, you miss the whole story line.''
He attributes it to a society so wrapped up in affirmation and self-esteem that parents try to protect their children from the complexity of the Crucifixion. ``There's a lot of unwillingness out there in the culture to confront mortality and to understand that the Gospel deals with the event of death in every possible way,'' he said. ``This is one of the times that the church really confronts the truth.''
Cobb, who is 48, has been a pastor for 22 years, but the process of writing his weekly sermon has never gotten easy. ``Blood, sweat and tears,'' he said, only half-joking.
While some pastors might speak off-the-cuff, or indulge in flights of inspiration, Cobb rarely does. His sermons typically take five hours to write - not including hours spent reading books and checking through his files of newspaper and magazine clippings - and usually end up at a delivery time of 18 to 22 minutes.
Most of his sermons this year have a link to an essay he recently read, and he expected that it would also influence his Easter sermon. The essay, ``Bowling Alone'' by Robert Putnam, discussed the collapse of community in America. It made Cobb ponder the church's role.
``The church is going to be the one institution that stands against that,'' he said. ``The culture is moving toward privacy and self-interest. The church is based on community.''
His sermons often include current events that have caught his attention, since he expects the events will have been part of his congregants' conversations during the week. And he may weave in anecdotes from his personal experiences and conversations with congregants during recent days.
But he's always checking that his use of current events and anecdotes doesn't overwhelm the Gospel message. The point, he said, is to make a connection to listeners' daily lives.
``I had a teacher who said, `If you are simply repeating the Scripture, you are most unfaithful to it,' '' he recalled. ``The challenge is to make it a living word.''
MICHAEL SIMONE: LIGHTEN UP - GOD HAS A SENSE OF HUMOR
There's not much that Michael Simone won't do - or at least, seriously consider - to make church wildly entertaining for his listeners at Spring Branch Community Church in Virginia Beach.
Not long ago, he put on an apron and did his sermon as a television cooking show called ``Moses the Manna Maven.'' It was his attempt to update the story of God sending manna to the Jews and their leader, Moses, during their years of wandering in the desert.
``The first thing today is, ladies, we'll show you how to make a hat out of manna,'' he announced. By the end, he was tossing tortillas - his modern-day manna - into the aisles like Frisbees. Somehow, he said, he connected it all to a larger spiritual message: God will give you what you need for each day of your life.
Simone's church, an offshoot of the Chicago-based mega-church Willow Creek Community Church, is targeted at anyone who walked away from church out of boredom. The 45-year-old pastor wants those people back.
``I will go to whatever lengths it takes not to bore people,'' Simone said. ``I think it is a sin to bore people with the greatest message in the world.''
Simone holds services at the Virginia Beach Center for the Arts, a place that doesn't feel too churchy. He seeks to grab people's attention, and keep them constantly surprised through a multimedia spectacle. A typical service includes instrumental and vocal music, a dramatic presentation and a video clip, in addition to his 30-minute message.
On Easter, an actor dressed in modern clothes is giving an interpretation of the disciple Peter's inner turmoil during the time between the arrest of Jesus and the Crucifixion and Resurrection. Simone said the drama should help people understand, ``What would Peter's thoughts have been like as he went through that?''
Most people come to church on Easter expecting a sermon about Christ's resurrection. So Simone won't give them that. He planned to hone in on an incident after the Resurrection from the Gospel of Luke, when Jesus appears to two men walking along the road.
He expected to link that to a new television ad. ``Prudential has this ad going right now, `Live well. Make a plan. Be your own rock,' '' he said. ``My thing will be - you can't be your own rock. You need God in your life.''
While some people might draw a line between entertainment and spiritual uplift, Simone doesn't see it.
``This is a somber, sober hour. Who said that?!'' Simone erupts. ``Ever see a sunset? Ever see a flock of birds flying across the sky? God is entertaining us all the time.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photos
HUY NGUYEN/The Virginian-Pilot
John Peck, Virginia Beach
St. Gregory the Great Catholic Church
James Cobb, Norfolk
First Lutheran Church
Michael Simone, Virginia Beach
Spring Branch Community Church
by CNB