Ridgell's Originals

HIP is our Wednesday night praise service at Southern Hills, and I thought I would share some of the thought process about how we handle the preaching portion of that assembly. Gary and Francis Green, our campus ministers, and their team decide on the general theme for each semester. I have input into this, but I don't decide it. That is the same way we decide on the format for each week.

We usually divide the preaching up into segments that actually total about 20 minutes. Sometimes we will have a 2 minute call to worship. The message will sometimes be 12-15 minutes, but it may be done in one, two, or three segments. There will usually be a Garden of Prayer intro that will be around three minutes. So we have a wide variety of ways we present the message (and that does not count singing to each other). Sometimes we will have a video, or someone will share their testimony.

In a given night, we might use only one person to do all the sharing of the message. Other times, we may use 3 or 4 different men. Typically, either Gary or I will do most of the "preaching" part of the message, tho we occasionally use others there. There are another 2 or 3 who might intro the Garden of Prayer during the semester, and probably another 5 or 6 who might do the Call to Worship. Still others might share their testimony.

Most people think I preach Hip, but I probably do only about 60% of the presenting. Gary will usually do about 25%, tho he has not been able to this semester. Others will do the remaining time. The Campus Ministry leadership team, under the authority of the elders, selects the various speakers, including me. I am on a semester by semester invite.

The advantages of this model is that it allows for different styles and insights. There is still one main voice, but not one voice only. Those who do not care for my preaching --boy that hurts to write :) -- do not have to hear me all the time. This model lets our people hear a variety of good speakers, including those who are not professional preachers. It lets us identify and begin to train those who might have a gift for preaching.

Just thought some of you might like to know this. I like the model. In fact, I think it may the future model for Sunday assemblies.

And, except for the worship and campus interns, HIP is done by volunteers. Once in a while one of our paid staff will do some part of HIP, but probably 90% of the speaking is done by non-paid members. Some will argue that "you get what you pay for", and that may be right. And some day we might use staff, or pay the HIP speakers. But it does serve to remind us that money and ministry are not mutually inclusive.

Feel free to share your thoughts.