Scripting a Sermon approaches common challenges for crafting sermons, looking toward the essential components of filmmaking to help preachers create more potent sermons.

In this third volume in the “Preaching and…” series, Shauna K. Hannan and Gael Chandler combine their expertise to focus on the convergences between the crafts of homiletics and filmmaking. Looking to enliven the preached word, this book draws attention to the ways in which the sermon is set up to captivate the audience. For example, sermon openings, which are frequently disconnected from the sermon’s overall point or needlessly long, are explored through the techniques of filmmakers who use opening shots to introduce the narrative. Readers will be enlightened to how filmmakers use these openings to set the tone of the film, involve the audience in the characters’ story, and establish expectations for what the audience will encounter throughout the film. Hannan and Chandler give detailed and practical advice on specific aspects of this and other processes that preachers could use to craft far more effective sermons. Other chapters cover building scenes and characters, being a good editor of your work, and crafting effective sermon endings. Equipped with the wisdom of the best filmmakers, skilled preachers will gain greater insight into powerful methods for captivating hearers and impacting our world.