My first career was as a professional theatre actor, and my formation as a performing artist carries over into my preaching. Many people assume the main carryover shows up in sermon delivery and perhaps in an understanding of how to manage the nerves that come with standing before a group of listeners with something to say. But what has been more impactful for my preaching is how acting shaped my capacity to navigate certain tensions that come with the act of proclamation, such as the relationship between authority and curiosity. Acting offered me an education in holding space while navigating this tension.
Authority
When I speak of authority, I’m referring to the motivation and approach to standing in the role one finds oneself in, grounded in the event’s purpose rather than merely in a personal sense of calling. Actors serve the play’s story, and that story illuminates a truth about the human experience. Actors hold space for theatre’s authority as a place of truth-telling.
An actor has to believe they are essential to the production process. Theatre is a collaborative art, and every collaborator must approach their work with a sense of surety, even if they are less certain about the particulars of each step. They have been cast in this role. They have explored which choices best serve the character’s needs and wants while analyzing the story’s arc. As they wait in the wings to step onto the stage, they hold all of that with an open hand, knowing that what comes alive in the performance is unique, even if it is the 100th performance. Does any of that resonate with the process of preparing and proclaiming God’s word?
What gives the actor the audacity to undertake this endeavor? When approached from a place of wholeness and humility, that audacity is rooted in an understanding of theatre’s broader purpose. Audacity can become arrogance, but in unpretentious hands, it is a foundation for creativity to flourish. This certainty of authority is an opening to clarity of purpose. This authority of purpose is vital to the endeavor’s value.
By what authority of purpose do we, as preachers, take up space as proclaimers of the word? Yes, it is the authority of God and of God’s revelation. Yet are we truly able to stand in that authority, with a clarity of purpose that allows the continuing narrative of God’s self-revelatory, life-giving word to cultivate holistic growth? Perhaps we preachers can borrow a little audacity from actor formation.
How do actors, in practice, engage authority? They get on their feet and step onto the stage. They trust the process, both the tangible and the intangible steps of development. They offer their work and performance as realities that become fully manifest only when experienced by a community of listeners.
Curiosity
For actors, curiosity is essential. If you come to the first table read with a closed mind, having already made all the choices and with no intention to explore, you’re dead in the water. Of course, the actor has thoughts, ideas, and excitement. But they readily acknowledge that it is only the beginning of the journey. There are weeks of fumbling, exploration, revelation, and decision-making ahead.
For preachers, embracing curiosity as a foundation for preaching can seem complicated. First, preachers are preaching the revelation of God, and many differing theological perspectives shape how “curiosity” is defined in the church. Second, for better or worse, many congregants want answers, and curiosity can feel too vague as they navigate life’s ups and downs. So a preacher may view curiosity, theologically and practically, as an important element of formation, but demonstrating its holistic benefit can be difficult to convey. Lastly, a place of curiosity may seem more vulnerable as a preaching platform. We may want a “stronger” foundation to stand on as we preach. All of these realities may make curiosity as a preaching foundation an outwardly precarious prospect. Here is where actors can lend a bit of courage to preachers.
Just because actors harness the authority of purpose does not mean they are not vulnerable and open in the process. Actors explore new ways to pursue what the character wants and needs right up until the final bow of the final performance. They adapt and move with the spirit of the work, for the sake of the greater purpose. Actors learn and cultivate the capacity to take risks and to look foolish doing so. Again, perhaps this is easier on a stage than in the pulpit. Are we willing to ask ourselves whether the benefits of an ethos of curiosity in our preaching are worth it?
Balancing authority and curiosity
I’ll name what some may have been thinking since the start of this post. Acting isn’t preaching. Of course it isn’t. The connections between acting on a stage and preaching from a pulpit aren’t based on the activities being the same, but on both being heightened experiences with shared aspects of presentation. Actors ask you willingly to suspend your disbelief, while preachers exhort you to expand your belief. However, authority and curiosity ebb and flow both on stage and in the pulpit.
When it comes to striking this balance, preachers can learn from actors the importance of engaging in a process and practice that grounds one in the authority of purpose while remaining open and vulnerable to the continued, communal revelation that is the fruit of God. Authority and curiosity show up not only in this preacher’s embodied presence but also in the structure and form of the sermon.
How do actors, in practice, nurture authority? They embrace the authority of purpose, grounded in theatre’s overarching role. How do actors, in practice, nurture curiosity? They ask questions as if the answers are still taking shape, no matter how vulnerable that makes them. The reflection and invitation for preachers is to explore how to adapt and integrate these methods into a holistic practice and process of preaching. What a blessing that we do not enact this work solely by our own capacity, but rather as a collaborative work with God. All of creation is God’s stage, and we are blessed to be players on it. May we stay grounded by divine authority of purpose and take flight with Spirit-driven curiosity.
