England - Thirsk, View of St. Mary's Pulpit #1 / My First Church Talk

The pulpit at St. Mary's also has a mouse carved into it, barely discernible along the bottom near the top step in this pic.

As a kid growing up in the Lutheran faith, I always saw a church pulpit as the domain of the high and mighty, and that you had to go to school to become holy then wear robes and sashes to earn a spot there.  How utterly wrong that idea was!  One of the first lessons and strongest impressions I got after being baptized into the church of Christ was that any Christian has a place in the pulpit or Sunday School classroom so long as what is taught is true to the Bible, and so long as the speaker is not disqualified due to a willfully sinful lifestyle, etc.  How simple yet how powerful! ...the power originating of course from the Word of God in a sermon properly prepared.

My first experience in speaking behind a podium (not a pulpit, mind you) in a church setting was when I was confirmed at the Trinity Lutheran Church on 16th Street in Orange, Texas.  I was twelve.  A group of us had taken classes for some weeks, and as a graduation exercise we all took turns to give a little talk to the congregation during a Sunday morning service.  After two or three had gone up and did their thing it was my turn.

As though it were yesterday I remember approaching the podium and seeing the audience from behind it for the first time.  I had developed a defense mechanism which staved off nervousness, but all of that tumbled down the moment I opened my mouth.  The reason?  I had not prepared for a moment what I was going to say.  Yes, for my first public church talk I stood at the podium and realized that I was going to have to wing it the whole way through.  Words did come out, but of course I flubbed it big time, embarrassing my teacher, my classmates and my clan all at the same time.  After that experience I realized that any innate talent or intelligence that I might have was not going to carry me through in all circumstances, so never again approached a public speaking engagement without being over-prepared.  I have since preached some (in English here and Spanish in Mexico) and taught many Bible classes and, some say, very effectively.  Through the years, however, I came to realize that I am not a teacher but an entertainer at heart, as anyone who has attended very many of my classes at church or my public meetings at work in the past will probably agree.