Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season. – 2 Timothy 4:2a (NIV)

When every day brings another horrible example of injustice and suffering in the world, what is a preacher to say? How do we keep going when we are afraid? How do we keep loving when we are furious? How do we speak in a way that starts a sacred conversation rather than ending it? Will the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart get me cast out of the church that trained me to speak up in the first place?

Dear preachers, I hear you and I add my own questions to yours. What can a person hear in church that they cannot hear anywhere else? Their time and yours are precious. Overwhelmed by shallow content posing as news, seduced by AI slop, by some miracle, the truth still breaks through with a story that pierces our hearts in divine devastation. As a preacher, will you recap the news from multiple points of view, quoting endless experts, or cut to the chase of Christ’s compassion? What will you use your few minutes to convey?

Lord knows, there are so many forces silencing and shutting down hope at this moment in history. We are barraged by the hysterical histrionics of theologically thin preachers and politicians who mock the good work of faith.

Keep preaching, anyway, pastors, with the power of being where you are. You are not institutional mouthpieces dumped into communities you do not know. You do not bark orders at strangers under the cowardly cover of a mask that is not worn for health but for harm. You preachers know your people and your context, and you stand before them as a gentle neighbor, clothed in the armor of God.

Prayer
Keep our preachers preaching. Amen.

About the Author
Lillian Daniel serves as Michigan Conference Minister, UCC. Her newest book, Defrocked: Good News from a Bad Pastor for a Better Church, is now available at bookstores.