Guidelines and Requirements for Preacher

Updated: December 2, 2025Lay Licensed Ministries

Guidelines and Requirements for Preacher

Guidelines and Requirements for Preacher

Title III, Canon 4, Section 5

A Preacher is a lay person authorized to preach. Persons so authorized shall only preach in congregations under the direction of the Member of the Clergy or other leader exercising oversight of the congregation or other community of faith.

This license is required for individuals that preach regularly and write their own sermons. If you are preaching and using published sermons from a site such as “Sermons that Work”, you do not need a preacher’s license.

Discernment

Candidates considering the ministry of Preacher should initiate discussion with sponsoring clergy, spiritual directors, or other appropriate guides to discuss honestly how to test a call, as well as the practicalities of the preaching ministry. There are many resources noted within these guidelines to expand your knowledge theologies of preaching.

Discernment Questions:

  • Have I imagined myself preaching? How did that feel?
  • Have I found I wanted to investigate the meaning of the scriptures more deeply than I have in the past?
  • Am I curious about Christian theology or the history of the Church?
  • Have I asked God whether God might be calling me to this ministry?
  • Have friends, clergy or fellow parishioners suggested I think about a preaching ministry?
  • Do I feel relatively comfortable speaking in front of a group?
  • Am I open to beliefs and attitudes different from my own, or from those of my community?
  • Have I grappled with the question of what preaching is, and what its purposes are?
  • Am I open to criticism as a means of growth?
  • Am I ready to devote myself to preaching as a central aspect of my spiritual life?
  • What gifts do I have that would be an asset for this ministry? What gifts do I bring now, and what gifts do I hope to develop/grow?

Qualities of Call

  • Thorough grasp of and lived commitment to The Gospel
  • Public speaking ability
  • The ability to organize one’s thoughts and present them in a cogent manner

Background Knowledge:

  •  A detailed knowledge of Holy Scripture (Old and New Testaments)
  • A general knowledge of Church History, Liturgics, Theology and Ethics
  • The principles of biblical exegesis and contemporary biblical criticism
  • Contemporary issues facing the local church and larger communities
  • A basic knowledge of the Book of Common Prayer, the Book of Occasional Services and Lesser Feasts and Fasts and other supplemental texts
  • A basic knowledge of the Hymnal 1982 and other available hymn sources

Skills

  • The ability to exegete a passage of scripture.
  • The ability to preach out of one’s own personal life experience.
  • Construct and deliver a sermon for Sunday worship appropriate for lectionary and season.
  • If called to do so, construct and deliver a sermon for the Pastoral Offices, such as:
    • The Celebration and Blessing of a Wedding
    • Ministration to the Sick (healing service)
    • The Burial of the Dead
  • Open to receiving and seeking feedback.

Education and Training Possibilities

  • The preferred Curriculum is one offered by the Bishop Kemper School of Ministry.
    • Homiletics for Lay Preaching
    • Introduction to Scripture
    • Old Testament I
    • New Testament
    • Sacramental Theology
    • Christian History
  • Training and mentoring by local clergy and other preachers.
  • Education for Ministry (EfM).
  • Courses offered by Episcopal or other seminaries such as:
    • Center for Anglican Learning and Leadership (CALL)
    • Church Divinity School of the Pacific.
  • University courses on scripture, church history, theology, and ethics.

To be Licensed

  •  Completion of application.
  • Recommendation of Rector/Priest-in-Charge/ and Vestry/Bishop’s Committee.
  • Completion of BKSM component or equivalent competency.
  • At the time of licensure, the licensing committee will work with the licensee to find a mentor that can provide the licensee with support and guidance as they begin they begin the ministry.
  • One sermon based on Sunday lectionary with audio, video and text.
  • Recommend a second pastoral sermon (wedding, funeral, healing, etc.)
  • Contact The Diocese of West Missouri for further information on how to complete the following:
    • Participate in Diversity Workshop.
    • Safe Church, Safe Community online coursework.

To Renew Your License

  •  Licenses are renewed in a set rotation every three years not based on date it was issued.
  • Completion of renewal application.
  • Report on any continuing education completed since last license was granted.
  • Report on how license has been used since last granted, including number of times preaching has occurred and other preaching activities noted under the guidelines.
  • Updated Safe Church, Safe Community online coursework.
  • Diversity Workshop if not completed previously.

Resources:

Episcopal:

  • The Book of Common Prayer. Church Hymnal Corporation, 1979.
  • The Hymnal, 1982. Church Hymnal Corporation, 1985.
  • The Book of Occasional Services (most recent edition)
  • Lesser Feasts and Fasts (most recent edition) and other supplemental texts.
  • Canons of the Episcopal Church, Title II (Worship).
  • Sermons That Work. Sermons for each Sunday prepared by the Episcopal Church USA; available at <>.

Preaching Commentaries:

  • The Text This Week. An on-line resource for early church to present commentaries and much more.
  • Tuesday Morning. A quarterly exegetical resource based on the Sunday lections of the Revised Common Lectionary, published at the School of Theology, Sewanee: University of the South.
  • Synthesis. A weekly resource for sermon preparation in the Episcopal tradition, prepared by the authors of Education forMinistry. Offers well-researched commentary on all aspects of the Episcopal Sunday liturgy, and includes exegesis, Tradition, Cultures, Hymnody, and Postscript.
  • New Proclamation. Minneapolis: Augsburg, annual series. (Or another lectionary based annual series.)
  • Feasting on the Word. A 12-volume lectionary commentary with Homiletical, exegetical, pastoral, and theological commentaries on all four lectionary readings, all three years. Westminster-John Knox.

Preaching Books:

  • Brueggemann, Walter. Finally Comes the Poet: Daring Speech for Proclamation. Minneapolis: Augsburg Fortress, 1989.
  • Clarke, Erskine, ed. Exilic Preaching: Testimony for Christian Exiles in an Increasingly Hostile Culture. Trinity Press International. 1989.
  • Craddock, Fred B. Preaching, Anniversary ed. Abingdon Press, 2010.
  • Edwards, O.C. Elements of Homiletic: A Method for Preparing to Preach. Pueblo, 1990.
  • Fuller, Reginald and Daniel Westberg. Preaching the Lectionary. The Liturgical Press, 2006.
  • Gatta, Julia. The Nearness of God: Parish Ministry as Spiritual Practice. Church Publishing, Inc, 2010.
  • Hogan, Lucy Lind. Graceful Speech: An Invitation to Preaching. Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 2006.
  • Long, Thomas G. Preaching and the Literary Forms of the Bible. Fortress Press, 1988.
  • Long, Thomas G. The Witness of Preaching, 3rd ed. Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 2016. (BKSM required textbook)
  • Lowry, Eugene. Homelitical Plot: The Sermon as Narrative Art Form, Expanded ed. Westminster John Knox, 2001
  • Taylor, Barbara Brown. The Preaching Life. Cowley, 1993.
  • Essays by Barbara Brown Taylor, Walter Brueggemann, etc.
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